Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk has refused to name either Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappe as the toughest striker he has ever faced, instead selecting a player who starred for Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League.
Van Dijk joined Liverpool in January 2018 when the Reds agreed to pay Southampton a whopping £75million for his signature. Liverpool had tried to sign the defender the previous summer but were not able to strike an agreement.
At the time of his transfer, Van Dijk became the most expensive defender of all time, though the record has since been surpassed by Harry Maguire’s £80m move to Manchester United and Josko Gvardiol’s £77m switch to Manchester City.
The Netherlands international has had a colossal impact on Liverpool, helping to transform their defence into one of the strongest in the world. While he has been at Anfield, Liverpool have won major trophies including the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Van Dijk has played against some incredible attackers, including Ronaldo, Mbappe and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But when asked about the toughest striker he has ever faced, the 32-year-old – somewhat surprisingly – gave the nod to Olivier Giroud.
“Olivier Giroud. Every time, you think you’ve got a hold of him, that you’ve got him well marked, but he always manages to score in one way or another: with his head, his foot, his knee,” Van Dijk said in an interview with France Football (via Get French Football News). “He has often scored against me.”
Giroud is not the only goalscorer Van Dijk praised, as he also namechecked Sergio Aguero, Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus as tough forwards to keep at bay. “They all make your matches very difficult,” he added.
This is not the first time Van Dijk has named Giroud as the hardest opponent of his career. He told Gary Neville in November 2022: “I always felt like I got him, but somehow, he always managed to score. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea or France, he always scored.
Virgil van Dijk lauds Olivier Giroud
“I said to him when we won the league, we won 5-3 [against Chelsea] we were 3-0 up or something and he scored a scrappy goal, I think it was against the crossbar and fell down, scrappy goal, I said to him: ‘You scored again?!’
“So I would say he is the guy that scores against me, and just that annoying person. There’s so many fantastic strikers I’ve played against, [Lionel] Messi, Aguero, Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything, but I’m going for Giroud as he’s my bogeyman – annoying!”
Given the incredible things the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe and Haaland have achieved in the game, some may be surprised that Giroud has caused Van Dijk more problems. But while the Frenchman is not as prolific as those previously mentioned forwards, he possesses the strength, game intelligence and brilliant finishing needed to cause opposition defenders all sorts of problems. And Giroud is also a menace in the air, whether it is through headers or overhead kicks.
Giroud does still possess a great goalscoring record, too. He bagged 105 goals in 253 games for Arsenal before heading to London rivals Chelsea and notching a further 39 goals in 119 appearances. Plus, Giroud is currently France’s record goalscorer, having overtaken Thierry Henry by reaching the 56-goal mark.
The 37-year-old may be underrated, but his trophy record speaks for itself. He has won the World Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Nations League, FA Cup, Serie A and Ligue 1 during a glittering career.
