Liverpool Defender Virgil Van Dijk has followed in the footsteps of Mohamed Salah and beaten his competitors to win the 2019 PFA Player of the Year award, according to The Mail
The newspaper claim on their website that the Dutch colossus has beaten five others to the coveted award which was won by his teammate Salah last season, with the official reveal set to be made on Thursday (25 April).
Since signing for £70million from Southampton last year, Van Dijk has gone from strength to strength for Jurgen Klopp and is on the verge of leading Liverpool to back-to-back Champions League finals.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was the defenders main rival for the award and Van Dijk has been given the nod for the trophy which is voted for by fellow Premier League players.
OPINION
This years award has been very competitive and sparked much debate. Last years awarding to Salah was much more straight forward as no one was on his level in that season. The rivalry between Sterling and Van Dijk has been very difficult to call but the defender deserves it much more. This is down to the fact that Van Dijk is worth more to his team and the role than Sterling is to City. If you took both players out of their respective sides, Liverpool would feel the effects much more than City would if Sterling did not play. Sterling would be replaced by Sane, Mahrez or Bernardo Silva, the list continues. Replacements for the defender would be between Matip and Lovren, should Joe Gomez be fit as the partner. Compare Van Dijk to others on the list for the award and he has been the best by a country mile and thoroughly deserves the crowning.
