NewsExplained: The 'massive' 2017 phone call between Steven Gerrard and Virgil van Dijk
In late 2017, Virgil van Dijk placed an important call to Steven Gerrard.
The much-sought-after central defender was deliberating over a career-defining decision as clubs competed to secure his signature from Southampton.
That race was, of course, ultimately won by Liverpool, with Van Dijk sealing a transfer to the Reds on New Year’s Day 2018.
The Dutchman has since written his name indelibly into the club’s history.
Two Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph sit atop his list of eight major honours.
There have been 374 appearances and 36 goals, while Van Dijk has been Liverpool’s permanent captain since 2023.
This past summer, he was chosen in eighth place in a huge poll ranking the greatest players to have represented the Reds.
Van Dijk’s desire to achieve such accomplishments at Anfield rather than anywhere else was, it has now been revealed, enhanced by a chat with Gerrard before his arrival.
“He phoned me at the time actually,” Gerrard recalls during Captains, a new LFC Original in which he, Van Dijk and Graeme Souness come together for a unique conversation.
“I knew his agent really well. It was City, Liverpool.
“He said to me, ‘I haven’t phoned you to sort of push me one way or the other, because I know which way you’re going to push me. But just tell me a little bit about Liverpool?’
“I just said to him, ‘Look, if it’s about what the clubs stand for and what the clubs are about, you’re wasting your time because I think you already know the answer to that.’
“It was an interesting conversation and I was so happy that he chose us.”
Responding in the programme, Van Dijk says: “Of course I [remember it].
“Obviously yourself and Hendo [Jordan Henderson] were very important for me, together with Jürgen [Klopp]. For me to speak to you, it was already massive.
“That feeling of, like, I wanted to play for this club so badly, it was so intense.
“And the fans embraced me from day one. Scoring also against Everton [on his debut] helped massively too!”
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