Virgil van Dijk has won the PFA Player of the Year award. The Liverpool defender beating Manchester City's Raheem Sterling and Chelsea's Eden Hazard to the prize. It's not surprising at all because he had helped the club pass through the second half of this season with his impressive contribution.
The Netherlands international player joined from Southampton for 75 million euro last January. And has since helped Juergen Klopp's side establish the best defensive record in the Premier League.
They are now second in the Premier League and just lagged 1 point behind Manchester City and in the Champions League semifinal. The 27-year-old player contributions so far are worth the prize.
Online casino Malaysia has noticed Virgil van Dijk is the second consecutive Liverpool player to win the award. In the previous season, their forward Mohamed Salah was crowned Player of the Year.
Not to mention Virgil van Dijk is the first defender to win the award since Chelsea's centre-back John Terry back in 2005. In an interview, Virgil van Dijk said he thought the highest honor a player can get is to get voted Player of the year by the players he plays against every week. He thinks the honor really special and he's very proud and honored to win the award.
Virgil Van Dijk Deserves The Award
Coincidentally, earlier this month, Juergen Klopp said he felt the defender would be a worthy winner for the award. The Germany manager stated Virgil van Dijk has an outstanding season and he deserves the award. Moreover, Juergen Klopp also points out last year award when Mohamed Salah won the award. He thinks Kevin De Bruyne also deserve the award as well. Not that their unhappy with Mohamed Salah's achievement, they just thought Kevin De Bruyne also deserved it as well.
And the manager realized the same thing happened again this year. They are indeed really happy for Virgil van Dijk. But at the same time this year, Sadio Mane also listed in the nomination. Juergen Klopp thinks Sadio Mane deserves the award as well.
In the same award, Raheem Sterling also did not go home empty-handed. The 24-year-old City's standout took home the Young Player of the Year Award. Meanwhile, Vivianne Miedema was voted as Women's player of the year and Georgia Stanway was voted as Women's Young Player of the Year.