Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.

Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, he is known for his strength, leadership, speed and aerial ability.

Virgil van Dijk was born on 8 July 1991 in Breda to a Dutch father, Ron Van Dijk, and an Afro-Surinamese mother, Hellen Chin Fo Sieeuw.

He has a younger brother and sister, who are two and ten years younger than him respectively.

He grew up in Kesteren, in the Haagse Beemden district of Breda.

His father left the family when he was 11 years old.

Van Dijk first lived with his father for a while before making the choice to go back to live with his mother, after which his father broke off contact.

Growing up he would play football wherever he could – on the streets, in concrete cages, and eventually Saturday morning matches.

He started playing football in the youth team at WDS'19 before joining Willem II at the age of 8.

He combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a dishwasher as a teenager.

He said "I didn't have a contract at that time. I wasn't thinking I had no future in the game, but I also knew I had to work, to try to make money."

Having previously and unsuccessfully featured as a right-back, Van Dijk was shifted into a central defensive position in 2008, aged 17, after he grew in height by around 18 centimetres.

Despite the positional shift and Van Dijk's physical growth, Willem II's reserve manager at the time Edwin Hermans believed he had "too many limitations" which prevented him from breaking into the first team.

The club therefore did not want to offer him a contract.

He left for FC Groningen at the age of 19 in 2010, on a free transfer, after being scouted by former Dutch international Martin Koeman, who was working for FC Groningen at the time.

Van Dijk initially struggled to break into Groningen's first team with club staff believing he was "overtired" after extensive playing time with Willem II's academy and reserve sides.

He made his professional debut for the club on 1 May 2011, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during a 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag.

On 29 May, and against the same opposition, he made his first start for Groningen and scored his first professional goals, netting twice in a 5–1 win in a UEFA Europa League play-off match.

During the 2011–12 Eredivisie season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie team, and scored his first regular-season goal during the club's 6–0 victory over Feyenoord on 30 October 2011.

He suffered a personal setback during the campaign, however, as soon after his 20th birthday he was admitted to hospital with advanced appendicitis, peritonitis and kidney poisoning.

The ailments were previously not recognized by the medical staff of FC Groningen and the local hospital.

He had an urgent lifesaving operation.

He spent 13 days in hospital, lost nearly two and a half stones and could not walk for 10 days.

As he had been close to dying as a result of the medical emergency the hospital had even gone so far as to ask him to sign a "sort of will" in the event of his passing.

It took Van Dijk a few months to fully recover.

In the summer of 2012 he returned and joined the selection again.

Despite the fact that the club had a changeable season, Van Dijk, who played in the center of defense together with veteran Kees Kwakman, excelled.

After beginning his professional career with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013.

At Celtic, he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons with the club, and won the Scottish League Cup in the second.

In the summer of 2013, Van Dijk was a candidate to strengthen PSV's defense, but the club ultimately opted for Jeffrey Bruma as the new central defender.

In 2015, he joined Southampton before signing for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, a then-world-record transfer fee for a defender.

He made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and assumed full captaincy of the national team in March 2018.

The following year, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they finished runners-up.

He also represented the side at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

With Liverpool, Van Dijk reached back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter.

He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season.

Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and helped end the club's 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League.

He is the only defender to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and has finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player, all in 2019.

Van Dijk has also been selected in the FIFPRO Men's World 11 in three different years.

Van Dijk represented the Netherlands at under-19 and under-21 levels.