Liverpool defender, Virgil Van Dijk has issued a strong warning to Harry Maguire who upstaged him to become the World’s most expensive defender following a move from Leicester City to Manchester United.
Harry Maguire was signed on a £80million record deal which is more than the £75million Liverpool paid for the services of Van Dijk who loved from Southampton last year.
Since joining Liverpool, Van Dijk has gone ahead to won the UEFA Champions League and alsp played in the Community Shield last Sunday against Manchester City.
Speaking on his record broken so early by Maguire, Van Dijk said:
“Good luck to him,” Van Dijk said of the man who took his record. “I can’t say anything about that because there was always going to be a time when it was going to change. That’s the market.
“He doesn’t have any influence on that but I wish him well.
“The price comes with pressure but it doesn’t change too much because you always have pressure at big clubs like Manchester United.
“You need just to focus on doing what you love to do and play your best game. Get your qualities out of the pitch, enjoy your game and don’t think about the other things.
“It is not easy to completely shut off all the pressure. Personally, I like to put things in perspective.
“Quite a lot of things are more important than playing football and what we do, we are blessed.
“We can do what we love to do and also to play for Liverpool – they are such a big club. You need to enjoy it but the pressure will always be there.”
Not least when the striker Maguire is marking starts to tease him about the weight of his price tag.
“What can you do?” Van Dijk said. “I am not listening to them. It does not change anything in my head.
“I just like to perform the best way I can and sometimes mistakes come.
“We all make mistakes, but you need to try to be the best you can be and get the maximum out of yourself.”