Liverpool centre back Virgil van Dijk is “a dominant force” and his team-mate Joe Gomez relishes being able to play alongside him in the heart of the Reds’ defence.
The young Englishman and Van Dijk have formed a solid partnership for Liverpool’s backline helping the Reds keep on of the Premier League’s best defence, with Gomez having overcome significant injury woes to re-establish himself in Jurgen Klopp’s starting lineup.
Van Dijk arrived at Anfield in January 2018 as the world’s most expensive defender when Liverpool splashed $75 million on the Dutchman’s services from Southampton, a record that has since been surpassed by Manchester United’s Harry Maguire’s when he switched to Manchester United from Leicester City, but Van Dijk quickly struck up a close relationship with the England international at Liverpool.
In his first full season, Van Dijk played an integral role for Liverpool to win the Champions League title as well as marshall a backline that kept conceded the least goals in the English top division.
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While speaking to Sky Sports, Gomez was all praise for his defensive partner.
The 22-year-old explained that Van Dijk played a big role in forming a special bond with the 28-year-old, “I’ve said it before, but the stature of Virgil before he came to the club was massive,” I was a young centre-back, hadn’t really gotten as many games [at Liverpool] as I would have liked but as soon as he came in, he reached out with open arms and we formed a bond straight away.”
Gomez further stated that Van Dijk is quite a down-to-earth human despite his stature and shares a great relationship with the Liverpool squad members, “The fact that he is a down-to-earth person off the pitch, we get on really well and we have a great relationship. We talk and in times like this, we FaceTime and speak about general things so that helps on the pitch when you have an understanding. He’s your mate at the end of the day.”
