"I’m telling you now, Van Dijk is a brilliant centre-half. But the longevity, the injuries have killed him, they have," former Chelsea player Jason Cundy said on talkSPORT as he vehemently disputed the idea that Virgil van Dijk is one of the best centre-backs of the Premier League era.
"Come at me then! [Vincent] Kompany, better centre-half and longevity. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell.
"[James] Tarkowski has had a better season than him. [Conor] Coady. [Eric] Dier. [William] Saliba.
"This has got to stop. This conversation… He’s been a brilliant centre-half, but this has got to stop. He’s living off some sort of train that didn’t actually leave the station!
"He’s won one Champions League and one Premier League!"
Cundy added: “Van Dijk is nowhere near the top three, four, five or six centre halves in the country right now!
"He’s no where near Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Sol Campbell. He’s nowhere near it. [I’m not putting him] anywhere near them. He can’t lace their boots!"
Van Dijk may not be at his best right now, but it's weird to deny that just a few years ago he was the best centre-back in the world, let alone the Premier League.
It also may be a bit premature to say that injuries have 'killed' his career: the Dutchman may be 31 years old, but this is definitely not the end of a career in the modern age.
