Former Manchester City star Vincent Kompany has named Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk as his ideal centre-back partner, describing the Dutchman’s ability as ‘very rare’Van Dijk is nearing the end of his first season wearing the Reds armband after succeeding Jordan Henderson as club captain last summer.
The Dutchman has made 268 appearances for Liverpool since he arrived from Southampton in January 2018.Kompany spent 11 years at Man City from 2008-19 and went into battle against Liverpool in several Premier League title races.
The former defender retired from professional football in 2020, and has been manager of Burnley since 2022.Saturday saw the Clarets confirmed as being relegated from the Premier League. Before kick-off, Kompany took part in an interview where he was asked to name his dream seven-a-side team.When it came to centre-back, Kompany picked Van Dijk as his preferred defensive partner.
The former Man City captain explained why he chose the Liverpool star, listing all the qualities Van Dijk has that he admires in a defender.“I’d have to play with Virgil, yeah I think we would’ve been a good pairing,” Kompany told Sky Sports.
Now, I couldn’t play with him, because I’d have to do all the running, but the younger version of him when he could’ve done the running for me,” Kompany said with a laugh.
The former Man City defender added: “His [Van Dijk] understanding of the game, and obviously he’s able to back it up with the execution as well.
But his understanding of the game, his leadership, his all-round profile as a defender – I really think that it’s very rare, to have very few weaknesses.”Kompany’s ‘dream’ seven-a-side team also included Thibaut Courtois in goal as well as himself and Van Dijk in defence.
Kevin De Bruyne was the only midfielder in the team, while Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez made up the forward line.
