Jordan Henderson has taken to social media to congratulate Virgil van Dijk on his impressive Liverpool debut against Everton in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Liverpool, on December 27, confirmed that they have reached an agreement with Southampton for the transfer of Virgil van Dijk and paying £75million for the centre-half means they made the Netherlands international the most expensive defender of all time.
The former Celtic star made his first appearance for the club at Anfield in the Reds’ FA Cup third-round clash against Everton last week. And it was Van Dijk who scored the winner late on to hand Liverpool a 2-1 victory and book their place in the fourth-round draw.
Skipper Henderson was clearly delighted to see Van Dijk get amongst the goals on his debut for the Merseyside outfit and congratulated him publicly via social media.
He posted the picture below on his personal Instagram account and captioned it: “What a debut!!@virgilvandijk. On to the next round! #YNWA.”
Henderson is expected to be out until the start of February with a hamstring injury. The news came as a huge blow for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who are battling for a spot in the Premier League top three. A scan has revealed that the tear in the muscle is grade two level, which means he will be out for at least four weeks.
Our captain will now be beginning a period of rehabilitation to improve his chances of an early return. Meanwhile, Van Dijk will be hoping to make his Premier League debut for Liverpool when the Reds return to top-flight action on Sunday afternoon with a crunch clash against runaway leaders Manchester City at Anfield.
The Liverpool defence has shipped in a lot of goals this season and for a team hoping to compete for the major trophies on offer, a good defensive base is the beginning of that dream. Current options at the back such as Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren are all decent players, but the arrival of Van Dijk bumps up the quality.
Let’s hope that the former Celtic defender repays the faith shown by Klopp, as the Dutchman has every ingredient in his game to become an Anfield great.
