Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has reportedly won the PFA Player of the Year award for the 2018/19 season.
The Daily Mail claim the Netherlands international has won the votes of his peers for the players’ prize, ahead of the official announcement this Thursday.
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Van Dijk has been a world class performer for Liverpool since he joined the club last season, having also previously shone at Southampton and Celtic.
This apparent award win looks well deserved for the 27-year-old, whose commanding performances in the Liverpool defence have turned the Reds into serious title contenders in this season’s Premier League.
Away from domestic football, Van Dijk was also a key part of LFC reaching last season’s Champions League final and the semi-finals of this season’s competition.
Few would argue that Van Dijk is up there with the very finest centre-backs in world football right now, if not the best.
If Van Dijk does pick up the prize this Thursday, he’ll be a rare example of a defender winning the award, and will have beaten big-name competition like Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and his own team-mate Sadio Mane.
PFA PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR: VIRGIL VAN DIJK ????? pic.twitter.com/5el6pqb5pi
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) April 24, 2019