A study has found that Virgil van Dijk is the fourth most important player to his club in terms of minutes played.
The Dutchman has been in impervious form for Liverpool this season, leading a Reds backline that has shipped just 13 goals through 15 games in the Premier League, which is the best in division. Research conducted by CIES Football Observatory has detailed the most used players over a calendar year, with Van Dijk the fourth most used player in the world.
The top three of the CIES list names two La Liga stars, alongside Fluminese’s Jhon Arias. Barcelona defender Jules Kounde tops the list having played a whopping 5,872 minutes for club and country this past year, with Arias coming in second after having featured for 5,599 minutes for Fluminense and Colombia.
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Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde is third on the list having played 5,573 minutes for club and country, with Van Dijk coming in fourth. The Dutchman has played a whopping 5,523 minutes this past year for the Reds and the Netherlands, whom he helped reach the semifinals of the European Championship.
And the remainder of the top 10 is made up of Nicolas Otamendi, Granit Xhaka, David Hancko, Felix Torres, Joe Rodon, and William Saliba – the seemingly irreplaceable Arsenal star. The latter of those six featured 5,264 minutes for the Gunners and France this past year, demonstrating his importance to the Gunners and Didier Deschamps side.
Van Dijk, who is 33, is out of contract in the summer but has been offered a new deal to extend his stay at Anfield. And after having seen the number of minutes the Dutch defender has played over the last year, it’s easy to see why Liverpool must keep their captain.
Despite his age, Van Dijk is still performing at an elite level. If Liverpool let him walk, it would cost a fortune to bring in a defender who could match his current levels.
Liverpool.com says: Van Dijk is like a fine wine, getting better with age. Of course, his performances could decline given his age, but right now he looks to be an outlier. Liverpool need to get him signed up for the next few years, with Van Dijk still looking as impressive as ever leading the Reds backline.
