Michael Owen has claimed that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is the greatest centre-back of all time despite only having one Premier League title to his name.
The Dutchman has earned plenty of plaudits since moving to Anfield in a £75m deal from Southampton in January 2018, while he has returned to his best this season after missing much of last campaign with an ACL injury.
Few would argue that Van Dijk is one of the very best centre-backs right now, but Owen has gone one step further and believes the Netherlands star is the best central defender ever.
BT Sport’s pundits were discussing the player ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game against Villarreal, with Rio Ferdinand saying Van Dijk ‘is the best centre-back on the planet right now, easy’.
Owen then weighed in, saying: ‘Well I’d go further. I think he’s the best centre-half of all time.’
Asked what makes him better than Ferdinand and the others, Owen added: ‘He probably scored a few more goals, not much, but we’re talking about the greatest here.
‘As I’ve said, Rio was the best centre-half I ever played with. But with Van Dijk, as a centre-forward I look at him and think: what do you do against him?
‘He’s bigger than everyone, he’s faster than everyone, he’s stronger than everyone, he’s brilliant on the ball, he scores goals. I’ve never seen anything like it.
‘The only thing that goes against Van Dijk at the moment – and I stress, at the moment – is his winners’ medals. He’s only won one Premier League and one Champions League.
‘People like Rio and [Paolo] Maldini and [Franco] Baresi and people like that who you might consider the greatest, they’ve all got numerous. So that’s the only thing that goes against him.
‘But as a one off, I look at him and think: how can you get any better than that?’
