Second opinion

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In order to make the right choice in each phase of your football career, it is sometimes worthwhile to ask for advice somewhere else. From someone with specific knowledge, or a fresh pair of eyes.

Virgil van Dijk (Breda, 8 juli 1991)

Youth

Virgil van Dijk first started playing football in the WDS’19 youth team. From the D junior league onwards, he attended the youth academy of Willem II.

In 2010, it turned out that head coach Alfons Groenendijk did not want to recruit him to the first eleven. Which is why Willem II did not want to offer him a contract. Virgil, 19 years old, then left for the U23 team of FC Groningen. Pieter Huistra selected him for the first eleven halfway through the 2010/2011 season.

FC Groningen

On 1 May 2011, Virgil made his debut in professional football as a striker against ADO Den Haag. He had a strong first season, but was rushed to Martini Hospital early April 2012. Acute appendicitis, peritonitis and kidney poisoning almost cost him his life.

In the summer of 2012 he rejoined the squad, where in the meantime Robert Maaskant had taken over from Huistra as coach. Other clubs showed interest, but after a dramatic game for the national team against Italy, none of the parties seemed to want to press ahead. One of them was PSV, who saw in Van Dijk a good candidate to strengthen the defence, but in the summer of 2013, opted instead for Jeffrey Bruma.

Other countries also expressed interest, but Van Dijk preferred to go transfer a leading Dutch club. FC Groningen director Nijland and Van Dijk’s agent contacted Marc Overmars at his request to discuss a transfer to Ajax. However, Ajax opted for a new central defender in the guise of Mike van der Hoorn from FC Utrecht.

Celtic

Van Dijk swapped FC Groningen for the Scottish team Celtic on 21 June 2013. In the two years that followed, Celtic became national champions.

Southampton

In 2015 Van Dijk signed a five-year contract with the English Southampton team of trainers Ronald and Erwin Koeman. He made his debut there on 12 September 2015 against West Bromwich Albion. After a solid second season, he attracted a great deal of interest from English top clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool. However, the latter club were forced to apologise when they had tried to approach Van Dijk through irregular means.

In the summer of 2017, Van Dijk pushed to be able to leave, although that did not materialise into a transfer. He stayed at Southampton, landed on the bench and ended up playing just 12 matches in the first half of the competition.

Liverpool

On 27 December 2017, Van Dijk signed a five-year contract with Liverpool worth around 55 million euros. He made his debut on 5 January 2018 in an FA cup home match at Anfield against rival Everton city.

On 28 April 2019, Van Dijk was chosen as Player of the Year in the Premier League. On 1 June 2019, he won the Champions League with his team by winning 0-2 in the final against Tottenham Hotspur.

During the 2020/2021 season, Van Dijk suffered a severe hamstring injury.

So, you can see how often you have to make choices as a professional footballer. In every phase, you have to make the right choice with your agent. Sometimes you know what you want, yet others make the choice for you. Nevertheless, it is a fact that there are plenty of crossroads where choices (have to) be made. That worked out for Virgil van Dijk as follows:

Negative: Alfons Groenendijk (Willem II)

PSV

Marc Overmars (Ajax)

Positive: WDS’19
Pieter Huistra (FC Groningen)

Robert Maaskant (FC Groningen)

Celtic

Ronald & Erwin Koeman (Southampton)

Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Knowing what you want, knowing what you need to develop yourself and to be able to keep enjoying the game of football, knowing what you are worth, knowing what your body is capable of, knowing what your agent can do for you, knowing what the possibilities and opportunities are in the transfer market: stay sharp. And ask for a second opinion if you have any doubts.

Global Sports Management is happy to take a look with you. Without any obligations, of course. The choice is always yours.

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