Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has showered praise on his club mate Virgil Van Dijk for his speed and aerial prowess and also claimed why he finds it funny when the big center back is challenging for battles in the air.
Fabinho has had quite a dream debut season in England with Liverpool as the Brazilian midfielder played a key role for Jurgen Klopp’s side to win the Champions League title this season. The 25-year-old joined Liverpool in the summer of 2018 from AS Monaco for a transfer fee of £40 million and also helped the Merseyside club achieve a staggering 97 points in the Premier League.
However, one player in the form of Virgil Van Dijk stood out amongst most fans and even players as the big center back won the PFA Player of the Year and also was awarded as man of the match against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final.
While speaking to reporters, Fabinho explained the high-quality abilities of the 27-year-old Van Dijk and said, “No-one beats him in the air, And I think he’s now gone 64 games without being dribbled past. He’s fast. And it’s funny that it seems like he doesn’t have to make much effort to run. He does it that way, like a big guy, and he easily gets to the ball.”
The former Monaco midfielder then went on to share a funny moment as when balls are up in the air against Van Dijk, his teammates are expecting the Dutchman to win every battle, “Balls in the air are funny. The ball comes and we just hear him shouting ‘VIRG!’. And you can let it pass, whoever the attacker is. “Against Manchester (United), he impressed me. We were going to play against Romelu Lukaku. I thought ‘hey Lukaku has his size, let’s see if he will hold up’. My God. Every air ball, it was ‘VIRG!’, he would run over. You hear ‘VIRG!’, you get out of the way because he will come running over.”
