Virgil van Dijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvɪrdʑɪl vɑn ˈdɛik]; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, and one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history, he is known for his strength, leadership, speed and aerial ability.
After beginning his professional career with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013. At Celtic, he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons with the club, and won the Scottish League Cup in the second. In 2015, he joined Southampton before signing for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, a then-world-record transfer fee for a defender. With Liverpool, Van Dijk reached back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter. He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season. Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and helped end the club's 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League. He is the only defender to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and has finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player, all in 2019. Van Dijk has also been selected in the FIFPRO Men's World 11 in five different years.
Van Dijk represented the Netherlands at under-19 and under-21 levels. He made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and assumed full captaincy of the national team in March 2018. The following year, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they finished runners-up. He also captained his national side to the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2024.
Virgil van Dijk was born on 8 July 1991 in Breda, North Brabant, to a Dutch father, Ron van Dijk, and a Surinamese mother, Hellen Chin Fo Sieeuw, who is Afro-Surinamese and of part Chinese descent. The Chinese surname Chin Fo Sieeuw derives from the given name of his maternal great-grandfather, Chin Fo Sieeuw (Chinese: 陳火秀, romanised: Chén Huǒxiù), who emigrated from Guangdong to Suriname around 1920. He has a younger brother and sister, who are two and ten years younger than him respectively.
Van Dijk grew up in Kesteren, in the Haagse Beemden district of Breda. His father left the family when he was 11 years old. Van Dijk first lived with his father for a while before making the choice to go back to live with his mother, after which his father broke off contact.
Growing up he played football wherever he could – on the streets, in concrete cages, and eventually Saturday morning matches. He started playing football in the youth team at WDS'19 before joining Willem II at the age of 8. He combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a dishwasher as a teenager. He said: "I didn't have a contract at that time. I wasn't thinking I had no future in the game, but I also knew I had to work, to try to make money."
Having previously, and unsuccessfully, featured as a right-back, Van Dijk was shifted into a central defensive position in 2008, aged 17, after he grew in height by around 18 centimetres. Despite the positional shift and Van Dijk's physical growth, Willem II's reserve manager at the time Edwin Hermans believed he had "too many limitations", which prevented him from breaking into the first team. The club therefore did not want to offer him a contract. He left for FC Groningen at the age of 19 in 2010, on a free transfer, after being scouted by former Dutch international Martin Koeman, who was working for Groningen at the time.
Van Dijk initially struggled to break into Groningen's first team with club staff believing he was "overtired" after extensive playing time with Willem II's academy and reserve sides. He made his professional debut for the club on 1 May 2011, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during a 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag. On 29 May, and against the same opposition, he made his first start for Groningen and scored his first professional goals, netting twice in a 5–1 win in a UEFA Europa League play-off match.
During the 2011–12 Eredivisie season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie team, and scored his first regular-season goal during the club's 6–0 victory over Feyenoord on 30 October 2011. He suffered a personal setback during the campaign, however, as soon after his 20th birthday he was admitted to hospital with advanced appendicitis, peritonitis, and kidney poisoning. The ailments were previously not recognised by the medical staff of Groningen and the local hospital. Van Dijk underwent an urgent lifesaving operation, after which he spent 13 days in hospital, lost nearly 16 kg (35 lb; 2.5 st), and could not walk for 10 days. As he had been close to dying as a result of the medical emergency, the hospital had even gone so far as to ask him to sign a "sort of will" in the event of his death.
It took Van Dijk a few months to fully recover. In the summer of 2012, he returned and joined the selection again. Despite the fact that the club had a changeable season, Van Dijk, who played in the centre of defence together with veteran Kees Kwakman, excelled.
In the summer of 2013, Van Dijk was a candidate to strengthen PSV's defence, but the club ultimately opted for Jeffrey Bruma as the new central defender. A transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion FC or Krasnodar, both of which wanted to meet the asking price of Groningen director Hans Nijland, were rejected by Van Dijk himself. Van Dijk, who actually preferred a transfer to a Dutch top club, contacted Marc Overmars himself via director Nijland and his agent to discuss a possible transfer to Ajax. However, the club, which was on the market for a new central defender at the time, decided not to accept Van Dijk's advances and eventually signed Mike van der Hoorn from Utrecht.
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. 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. A week later, he made his first start, in a 2–2 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Celtic Park. On 9 November, Van Dijk scored his first Celtic goals, heading one in each half of a 4–1 win against Ross County. After a solo run, he scored the only goal of a victory over St Johnstone on 26 December.
Van Dijk scored again on 26 January 2014, in a 4–0 win versus Hibernian for Celtic's 11th consecutive league win. 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. 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. He was one of three Celtic players named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. Van Dijk was nominated for the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award, but lost out to fellow Celtic player Kris Commons.
On 22 July 2014, Van Dijk and Teemu Pukki each scored twice in a 4–0 home win over KR in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, putting their team into the next round 5–0 on aggregate. 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. 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. Four days after that, his sixth goal of the season was enough for victory in a home match against Glasgow neighbours Partick Thistle.
Van Dijk was again on target on 21 January 2015, opening a 4–0 home win over Motherwell. 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. He was again sent off on 8 March in the Cup quarter-final away to Dundee United at Tannadice Park, receiving a red card after eleven minutes for a confrontation with Calum Butcher. 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. Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes of the final at Hampden Park, which Celtic won 2–0. 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.