Virgil van Dijk, who was named the PFA Player of the Year late on Sunday night, has been central to Liverpool's bid to win both the Uefa Champions League and Premier League titles in 2018/19.
Since signing from Southampton for a world record fee for a defender of £75 million (Dh356m) in January 2018, the Netherlands international has made crucial contributions to the side, playing in all their Premier League games so far this season. His presence at the back has helped Liverpool keep 19 clean sheets and win 28 league games.
Here's some information on the player and his background.
The man
Virgil van Dijk was born on July 8, 1991 in the city of Breda to a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother.
Known for his aerial prowess, passing and leadership qualities, Van Dijk did not always look destined to become the formidable presence for both club and country he is today. His youth coaches at Dutch side Willem II said he had "too many limitations".
A little more than a decade later, he has been voted by his fellow players as the Premier League's best.
The progress
Van Dijk moved to Groningen in 2010 where he progressed through the ranks as a youth team player before going on to make 62 appearances for the first team.
Scottish giants Celtic snapped him up for a fee of around £2.6m in June 2013. Van Dijk would go to to make 76 appearances over the next two two seasons, leading the Glasgow club to back-to-back Premiership titles, while the Dutchman was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year both seasons. He capped his stint in Scottish football by lifting the Scottish League Cup.
Van Dijk joined Southampton in September 2015 for a fee just shy of £13m where he would establish himself as one of the Premier League's most imposing centre-backs. Then came the biggest break of his life, as he joined Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in January 2018, becoming the most expensive defender in the world in the process.
Two months later, he was awarded the captaincy of his country by Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman, although it began with a 1-0 defeat to England in a friendly.
Highlights from 2018/19:
- In August 2018, Van Dijk was voted Man of the Match by BBC Sport and Sky Sports for his performance in Liverpool's win over Crystal Palace. He also received the Liverpool Player of the Month award the same month.
- Four months later, he provided the assist for Divock Origi's winner in Liverpool's 1-0 derby victory against Everton. The same month Van Dijk scored his first Premier League goal, against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- He snapped up Premier League Player of the Month prizes for November and December.
- In February, he scored twice in Liverpool's 5-0 win against Watford.
- The following month, he netted his first Champions League goal for the club and made an assist as Liverpool beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in the quarter-finals. In the process, he became the first player in 11 years, since Craig Bellamy, to score and assist for Liverpool in an European Cup knockout away game.
