Man United legend Stam: “Van Dijk may be even better than I was!”

Manchester United legend Jaap Stam admits his Dutch compatriot Virgil van Dijk is even better than he was at the height of his career after Van Dijk has enjoyed great success in the last two seasons.

Virgil Van Dijku lost to Lionel Messi for this year’s Ballon d’Or, remaining the second best, despite a slight difference in votes between the two players.

Van Dijku had started his career as a player at Groningen before moving to Celtic in 2013. His two years in Scotland were rewarded with a move to Southampton, before a £ 75m move to Anfield in January 2018 .

The Dutch defender has continued to receive much praise for his performances for Liverpool, which helped him win the Champions League trophy last season, and was also named UEFA’s best player of the year.

Even Jaap Stam admits he was very impressed with the 28-year-old’s journey.

“It’s always been argued in the Netherlands, ‘We need another defender like Jaapi’ and now comes Virgil, who gained fame late. He didn’t grow up in the PSV or Ajax academy,” Stam said.

“He built his career starting from the smaller teams and then moving to Scotland and then to England. You have to work for yourself and he did just that.”

“Maybe he’s even better than me, I don’t know. But his presence is noticeable. This is very important for a player who wants to play in clubs and in the major leagues in the world.”

“It’s very important to position yourself – even when you own the ball, even when you don’t – because it helps you a lot and gives you more time to do something and he’s doing a great job.”