Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk

Van Dijk playing for Netherlands in 2016
Personal information
Full name Virgil van Dijk[1]
Date of birth (1991-07-08) 8 July 1991
Place of birth Breda, Netherlands
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 17
Youth career
2009–2010 Willem II
2010–2011 Groningen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Groningen 62 (7)
2013–2015 Celtic 76 (9)
2015–2017 Southampton 55 (4)
National team‡
2011 Netherlands U19 1 (0)
2011–2013 Netherlands U21 3 (0)
2015– Netherlands 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 December 2016

Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Southampton and the Netherlands national team.

After beginning his career with Groningen, he moved to Celtic in 2013, where he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons, also winning the Scottish League Cup in the latter. In September 2015, he joined Southampton.

Van Dijk made his international debut for the Netherlands in 2015.

Club career

Groningen

Van Dijk was born in Breda to a Dutch father and Surinamese mother.[2] He started his career with Willem II before transferring to Groningen in 2010 on a free transfer after just one season. He made his professional debut for Groningen coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during the 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag on 1 May 2011.[3] During the 2011–12 season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie side, scoring his first professional goal during the 6–0 victory against Feyenoord on 30 October 2011.[4][5] He scored his second professional goal for Groningen on 22 January 2012 against Heracles Almelo in a 2–1 victory before scoring again the following week during a 4–1 defeat to FC Twente. Van Dijk scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season on 7 October 2012 during a 2–2 draw with Feyenoord. Van Dijk scored again, against Feyenoord in the return fixture on 23 December 2012 during a 2–1 defeat.

Celtic

2013–14 season

On 21 June 2013, Van Dijk signed with Celtic for a fee of around £2.6 million, on a four-year deal including a 10% selling-on fee for Groningen.[6] He made his debut on 17 August, replacing Efe Ambrose for the final 13 minutes of a 2–0 Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.[7] A week later, he made his first start, in a 2–2 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Celtic Park.[8] On 9 November, Van Dijk scored his first Celtic goals, heading one in each half of a 4–1 win against Ross County.[9] After a solo run, he scored within five minutes the only goal of a victory over St Johnstone on 26 December.[10]

Van Dijk in 2015

Van Dijk scored again on 26 January 2015, in a 4–0 win versus Hibernian for Celtic's 11th consecutive league win.[11] On 25 February, he was sent off after 13 minutes of an eventual 2–1 loss at Aberdeen, for a professional foul on Peter Pawlett; it was Celtic's first defeat of the season.[12] With Celtic having already won the league, Van Dijk netted again on 7 May to put his team 3–1 up away to St Johnstone, in an eventual 3–3 draw.[13] He was one of three Celtic players named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year.[14]

2014–15 season

On 22 July 2014, Van Dijk and Teemu Pukki each scored twice in a 4–0 home win over KR Reykjavík in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, putting their team into the next round 5–0 on aggregate.[15] His first goal of the Premiership season came on 9 November, finishing from Stefan Johansen's last-minute corner for a 2–1 win at Aberdeen.[16] Three weeks later, Van Dijk scored the first and last goals of Celtic's 4–0 win versus Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.[17] Four days after that, his sixth goal of the season was enough for victory in a home match against Glasgow neighbours Partick Thistle.[18]

Van Dijk was again on target on 21 January 2015, opening a 4–0 home win over Motherwell.[19] On 26 February, he was sent off in the 36th minute against Inter Milan for a foul on Mauro Icardi, as Celtic lost 1–0 on the night, 4–3 on aggregate in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League.[20] He was again sent off on 8 March in the Cup quarter-finals away to Dundee United at Tannadice, receiving a red card after eleven minutes for a confrontation with Calum Butcher.[21] His suspension for the following week's Scottish League Cup Final was overturned on appeal, as was that of Paul Paton, who was sent off when mistaken for Butcher.[22] Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes of the final at Hampden Park, which Celtic won 2–0.[23] On 18 March, Celtic's third consecutive match against Dundee United, Van Dijk scored in the last minute to confirm a 4–0 win in a Cup replay.[24]

On 19 April, Celtic contested the Cup semi-final against Inverness at Hampden, and Van Dijk opened the scoring with a free kick. After the dismissal of goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Celtic fell 3–2, ending their chance of a treble.[25] Three days later, again from a free kick, he confirmed a 2–1 win away to Dundee.[26] His team again won the league, and Van Dijk was included in the league's Team of the Season for the second consecutive campaign.[27]

Van Dijk was reportedly "considering his future" in Glasgow after Celtic were knocked out of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League in the qualifying rounds to Malmö of Sweden.[28]

Southampton

On 1 September 2015, Van Dijk signed a five-year contract with English side Southampton for a reported £13 million transfer fee.[29][30] He made his debut for the Saints on 12 September in a 0–0 draw against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. Two weeks later, Van Dijk marked his third Premier League appearance with his first goal for the club, which came in the form of a header in the 11th minute to put Saints in front, following a set-piece from James Ward-Prowse in a 3–1 home win over Swansea City.[31]

On 7 May 2016, Van Dijk signed a new six-year contract with the Saints.[32] On 22 January 2017, he was named team captain of Southampton, after the departure of José Fonte.[33]

After a successful 2016–17 season at Southampton Van Dijk was subject to interest from Liverpool who apologised to Southampton for an illegal approach on the player after having reportedly made his interest in a move to Liverpool clear.[34][35][36] On 7 August 2017, Van Dijk handed in a transfer request to Southampton and released a statement along with it, emphasizing his wish to join a different club in the transfer window.[37]

International career

Van Dijk made his full international debut for Netherlands on 10 October 2015, in a 2–1 victory away from home against Kazakhstan in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier.[38]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 January 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Groningen 2010–11[39] Eredivisie 5200————52
2011–12[39] Eredivisie 23310————243
2012–13[39] Eredivisie 34230————372
Total 627400000667
Celtic 2013–14[40] Scottish Premiership 365201080475
2014–15[41] Scottish Premiership 35454401425810
2015–16[42] Scottish Premiership 50000050100
Total 769745027211515
Southampton 2015–16[42] Premier League 343103000383
2016–17[43] Premier League 211112062304
Total 554215062687
Career Total 1932013510033424929

    Honours

    Club

    Celtic[44]
    Southampton

    Individual

    References

    1. ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
    2. ↑ "News". Celtic FC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
    3. ↑ "ADO DEN HAAG VS. GRONINGEN 2 - 4". Soccerway.com.
    4. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk One of the Finest Centre-Backs in the Premier League". Soccer Box.com.
    5. ↑ "WEDSTRIJD: FC GRONINGEN - FEYENOORD". FC Update.nl.
    6. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Dutch defender joins Celtic". BBC Sport. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    7. ↑ Murray, Keir (17 August 2013). "Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    8. ↑ "Celtic 2-2 Inverness CT". BBC Sport. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    9. ↑ Conaghan, Martin (9 November 2013). "Ross County 1-4 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    10. ↑ Campbell, Andy (26 December 2013). "St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    11. ↑ Murray, Keir (26 January 2014). "Hibernian 0-4 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    12. ↑ Southwick, Andrew (25 February 2014). "Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    13. ↑ Burns, Cheri (7 May 2014). "St Johnstone 3-3 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    14. ↑ "PFA Scotland announces their selection for 2013/14 Team of the Year". STV. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    15. ↑ Burrows, Ben (22 July 2014). "Celtic 4-0 KR Reykjavik: Hoops ease into next Champions League round in comfortable fashion". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    16. ↑ Moffat, Colin (9 November 2014). "Aberdeen 1-2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    17. ↑ Southwick, Andrew (30 November 2014). "Hearts 0–4 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
    18. ↑ Wilson, Richard (4 December 2014). "Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    19. ↑ Moffat, Colin (21 January 2015). "Celtic 4-0 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    20. ↑ "Inter 1 Celtic 0 (4-3 agg): Late strike finishes off battling ten-man Celtic and ends their Europa League run". Daily Record. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    21. ↑ Murray, Keir (8 March 2015). "Dundee Utd 1-1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    22. ↑ "Van Dijk and Paton cleared to play in League Cup final". BBC Sport. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    23. ↑ Wilson, Richard (15 March 2015). "Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    24. ↑ "Celtic 4-0 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    25. ↑ Lindsay, Clive (19 April 2015). "Inverness CT 3-2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    26. ↑ Southwick, Andrew (22 April 2015). "Celtic 1-2 Dundee". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    27. ↑ Kyle, Gregor (1 May 2015). "The SPFL dream team: PFA Scotland announce their teams of the year". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    28. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Celtic defender considers future after defeat". BBC Sport. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
    29. ↑ "Saints complete deadline-day deal for van Dijk". Southampton FC. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
    30. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Southampton sign Celtic defender for £13m". BBC Sport. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
    31. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk scored his first goal for Southampton who eased to a comfortable victory over Swansea.". BBC Sport. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
    32. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Dutch defender signs new six-year deal at Southampton". BBC Sport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
    33. ↑ "Puel confirms Saints' new captains". Southampton F.C. 22 January 2017.
    34. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool apologise and end interest in Southampton defender". BBC Sports. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
    35. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Southampton defender keen on Liverpool move". BBC Sports. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
    36. ↑ "Virgin van Dijk: Southampton to report Liverpool over approach". BBC Sports. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
    37. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk: Southampton defender hands in transfer request". BBC Sport. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
    38. ↑ "Successful Saturday for Saints stars". Southampton FC. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
    39. 1 2 3 "V. VAN DIJK". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
    40. ↑ "Games played by Virgil van Dijk in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    41. ↑ "Games played by Virgil van Dijk in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    42. 1 2 "Games played by Virgil van Dijk in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    43. ↑ "Games played by Virgil van Dijk in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
    44. ↑ "Virgil van Dijk". Eurosport.com.
    45. ↑ McNulty, Phil (26 February 2017). "Manchester United 3 Southampton 2". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
    46. ↑ "Celtic and Dundee United trios in SPFL Premiership team of year". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
    47. ↑ "PFA Scotland Teams of the Year". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
    48. ↑ "Van Dijk the big winner at Saints' Player Awards". Southampton FC. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.


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