Virgil van Dijk was made the world s most expensive defender by Liverpool and he wants to repay them by becoming a club legend.
The Netherlands international was signed from Southampton for £75million in December 2017 and has started every Premier League match this season, with Jurgen Klopp s side level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table.
Liverpool s charge towards a first title of the Premier League era will be tested at Manchester United on Sunday when they go up against a team unbeaten domestically under interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But centre-back Van Dijk is taking a long-term view as he tries to lead Klopp s men into a period of success and silverware.
As a legend of Liverpool, Van Dijk told BBC Sport when asked how he wants to be remembered. I want to achieve amazing things here. We have a fantastic squad, we have everything, we have all the tools.
They went all out to get me and I want to give everything for them. Before I started training, I went to the game against Leicester [City on December 30, 2017]. I was in the boardroom and met so many legends, great players who played for a beautiful club.
When you play for this club, you ll always be welcome as you ve been part of the family. It s one of the reasons I definitely wanted to play for the club.
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— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk)
Van Dijk spent time training alone at Southampton after putting in a transfer request in a bid to force the deal through, but he insists his commitment was never in doubt.
After the end of August I put my head down, played for Southampton and gave everything, he added. I was happy to play because I came back from an eight-month injury.
When everything happened over the summer, people doubt you. For me, I really didn t care as I gave everything in games and training. When it was December and I got a call to say they got a deal done and I could talk to Liverpool, I was very happy.
I went to the Juventus v Real Madrid Champions League final in Cardiff in [June] 2017 and a lot of Liverpool fans came to me and said I had to sign for them. It was a great gesture; they were nice and respectful.
Proud to be named POTM December! Thanks to all my teammates, staff and fans!
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk)
Van Dijk s development into one of the world s top defenders was not always guaranteed, however.
I wasn t tall until I had a growth spurt at 16 my younger brother was getting taller than me, he said. Over the summer I turned 17, I grew 18 centimetres.
My knee was a bit unstable. I had groin problems. I had so many problems, then I had proper rehab with physios and was out for six weeks. After that, I started playing well.
At 16, I was a slow right-back and wasn t good enough to play centre-back. I was never a standout player until I played for the Under-19s and became the captain. Then everything went much better I played some games for the Under-23s and after that it went pretty quickly.
