He made everything so simple — Liverpool's Van Dijk makes surprise pick for GOAT defender

Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in football history.

The Liverpool man transformed the club after arriving in January 2018, finishing second in the 2019 Ballon d'Or behind Lionel Messi.

Van Dijk, 34, has opened up about his love for the legendary Italian defenders of old while ranking Alessandro Nesta ahead of everyone.

In a recent interview, Van Dijk gave an interview to TMW (via SempreMilan)

“I loved both Nesta and Maldini. When you talk about Nesta, you mean elegance. He made everything seem so simple. Watching Alessandro’s play was like watching Roger Federer,” he said.

“Players like him showed us, defenders, the way to go. I respect him a lot, as I do all the other Milan defenders, who won European competitions at that time.

"I learned a lot from each of them. Everyone has their own opinion, but in my opinion, Nesta was the greatest Italian defender.”