The son of a Surinamese mother and a Dutch father, Virgil van Dijk had growth problems as a teenager, his younger brother by two years was taller than him, but suddenly, over six months he grew by five inches which lead to groin and knee problems.

Aged 18 there were also doubts at Groningen about his temperament with the feeling although talented and intelligent he was too laid back without the drive to push him to the top.

He also had to overcome a stomach infection after an appendix operation which hospitalised him for a fortnight. But the scouts soon realised that his pleasing on the eye style was not to be confused with being too easy going and, in the summer of 2013, Celtic pipped Ajax and Russian club, Kuban Krasnodar to his signature with the fee in the region of £2.8m. Neil Lennon soon had cause to feel he had made the right decision as van Dijk helped Celtic break the league record for consecutive clean sheets (13) and the most minutes without conceding (1256 minutes). He also grabbed 15 goals over his two seasons at Celtic Park. Over looked by Louis van Gaal for the 2014 World Cup he worked hard on his fitness the next season under new Celtic coach Ronny Delia, losing 9kg in weight and looking far more athletic. Delia accepted he a move to the Premier League was inevitable and the fact Saints were on the crest of a wave under fellow Dutch man, Ronald Koeman then St Mary’s was a logical destination for this yet uncapped but going places defender. 

Playing alongside the well-established José Fonte, the central defensive pairing proved to be inspirational and with Graziano Pelle, Sadio Mané and Dusan Tadic – his old Groningen team-mate – doing the business at the other end Saints finished 6^th which was their highest Premiership finish. Van Dijk won both the fans’ and the players’ player of the year as well as debuting for Holland in the October. Fonte was full of praise for his new partner, speaking to the Athletic in 2019 he recalled

“he didn’t make many mistakes, to be honest, it was very easy to play with him. He was such an amazing player.”

Virgil started 2016-17 very much in the same vein until Leicester and Jamie Vardy came to town in the January. Fonte had just left for West Ham and van Dijk had been made captain, but Vardy left his boot in after the ball had been cleared and that was the end of his season. His badly damaged ankle was a huge blow for the club especially as a few weeks later they were due to face Manchester United, with a rampant Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the line, at Wembley in the League Cup Final. Had Van Dijk not missed that game (and there had been a more efficient assistant referee) there was a good chance Southampton would have lifted their first trophy since 1976, but the Swede won the game for the Reds with a late header and van Dijk was left, sitting in the stands, with too much time on his hands to ponder his future.

At some stage Liverpool made an illegal approach towards him – for which they later apologised – but the seeds had been sown and although the Saints management tried to play hard ball the deal, when it was announced in the December, had an air of inevitability about it. The transfer, a world record of £75m, was not quite as acrimonious as the Adam Lallana transaction, but the fact he had only signed a new six-year in May 2016 and had gone behind the club’s back left a bad taste in the month that lingered long after his departure to glory and the Champions League at Anfield.