Van Dijk: “Real fans, real passion” helped me choose Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk has credited Celtic supporters with helping him decide on a move to Liverpool last year.

The formidable Dutch centre-back joined the Reds in a £75million deal in January 2018, though the fee now seems like a bargain given his impact on the squad.

And Van Dijk has revealed that similarities between Celtic and Liverpool supporters helped sway him towards Merseyside.

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“It was massive. I spoke quite good English but the Scottish accent is totally different,” he said.

“I remember in the beginning people were talking and I was just nodding and saying yes.

“But going to Celtic was fantastic for me even if it was the same situation I had in Holland. [Bigger] clubs doubted my ability because they thought the standard was not so high in Scotland. I kept working hard and I always believed in myself.

“And the fans at Celtic are amazing. They live and die for their club.

“That’s something I love – real fans, real passion. It’s why I also made the decision to come to Liverpool.”

On the Champions League final, he added: “It’s going to hurt if you lose – but it’s not the end of the world. The only thing we can do is to give everything and have no regrets if they’re the better team.

“We’re not thinking about losing or how we’re going to overcome this barrier of losing the Premier League by one point, then losing the Champions League. That’s not worth thinking about.

“I’m thinking about playing to our best ability with all our talent and experience. I read that if we win the Champions League our next two games are the Community Shield and European Super Cup.

“We can win three cups in three games. It’s something we strive for. We were close in the Premier League – but now we have a chance to win the Champions League, the big one. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com