Virgil van Dijk admits Newcastle fans convinced him to play in the Premier League

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Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk has been one of the Premier League’s best defenders in recent years, and Newcastle fans are the reason he is here.

The Dutchman has played in England’s top flight since 2015, and it has been his dream to play in the division since the age of 16.

Plenty of players from abroad want to ply their trade in the Premier League, and Van Dijk is no different. But his reasoning for wanting to is very strange.

The 31-year-old is the latest guest on Gary Neville’s ‘The Overlap’, and he has shared how a trip to Tyneside convinced him that he needs to play in the top flight of English football.

Van Dijk shares brilliant story about Newcastle fans

Sky Sports pundit Neville asked Van Dijk about his formative years as a footballer, to which the Netherlands international recounted a story of a boat trip to watch Newcastle United play.

“I remember I was 16 and we had a trip with the our team, under-16s, to Newcastle,” he said.

“We took the boat, went to Newcastle and it was an eye-opener for us because they were so direct and fighting. Very aggressive. We were like ‘what’s going on?’.

“We watched a first-team game, so Newcastle played at St James’ Park. We were sitting next to the away end so all the way up. I was thinking ‘wow, what is going on’.

“Big stadium, the passion of the fans and all this stuff. I really thought ‘I have to be here, I have to play in the Premier League’.”

Newcastle did try to sign Van Dijk

While Newcastle fans were what convinced Van Dijk to play in the Premier League, he has never had the chance to don the black and white stripes in front of a packed out St James’ Park. And he likely never will.

That’s a shame given Van Dijk’s affiliation to the area, but he was actually a target for the Magpies back in the day.

Newcastle reportedly wanted to sign him in 2014, back when he was still with Celtic. The Magpies were told he would cost £8million, but an offer was not forthcoming. Instead, he would join Southampton a year later before impressing enough to earn a £75million move to Anfield. The rest is history.

Now Newcastle have got their own Dutchman at the back, and are hoping that Sven Botman can be just as impactful in England.

The 22-year-old has been compared to Van Dijk, which is incredibly high praise. And early signs suggest that Botman is going to be a Premier League star just like Liverpool’s number four.