'What a footballer': Micah Richards names the Liverpool player who impresses him just as much as Mo Salah

Liverpool are on course to cruise towards the Premier League title this season and while Mohamed Salah is the star man, Micah Richards believes there’s another Reds star who is excelling.

Arne Slot’s side dispatched West Ham with ease to go further clear at the top of the table going into 2025.

Mo Salah was the star of the show again, while Luis Diaz impressed fans with his performance and Cody Gakpo continues to get better.

However, when it comes to keeping the ball out of the net, Liverpool are also doing the business and according to Micah Richards, that’s down to the imperious form of Virgil van Dijk.

Micah Richards says Virgil van Dijk is one of the greatest ever

Speaking on the latest episode of The Rest is Football, Richards was lauding Liverpool for their performances.

However, when it came to star men, Richards believes Virgil van Dijk needs just as much of a mention as star forward, Mo Salah.

“We talked about Trent, didn’t we? And we talked about Salah, but Van Dijk, oh my, oh my. What a footballer,” Richards said.

“What a player he is. Yes, he’s good on the ball. Yes, he’s tall and he’s strong, but he’s just, he’s effortless.

“Everything that he does. If you watch his positioning, it is…He just is always in the right position. Yes, I don’t like the sometimes thing that he does when he’s sort of defending and the ball goes behind him and he just sort of sticks out his back leg. That’s the only part of his game that I look at and think, you don’t really need to do that, but everything else, he’s spot on.

“He is one of the Premier League greats. We’re talking top line defender”

How good has Virgil van Dijk been for Liverpool in 2024?

In terms of key players in a big team, Virgil van Dijk is right up there with being the most important of all the big teams and their stars in Europe.

Indeed, Gary Neville compared Van Dijk to Rodri at Man City, such is his importance, and we’ve all seen the drop off at City since the Spaniard got injured.

Furthermore, when it comes to the best of all time debates, even former Man United defender Phil Jones put Van Dijk above former teammate Rio Ferdinand

“I think it would be harsh to say he [Ferdinand] wouldn’t have been as good as he is now as he was in that era. I think he still would have been top, but I’ve got to go Van Dijk. Just because I think what he’s given Liverpool over the last five/six years has been incredible,” Jones said.

“He might have had a little bit of a dip in form over the last four/five months, but he’s right up there.”

Liverpool, then, simply have to get Van Dijk tied down to fresh terms or risk going into the 25/26 season with a completely new squad yet again.

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