There is no question that Liverpool right winger Mohamed Salah is the favorite to win the Premier League Player of the Season for the 2024/25 campaign, and, at this point, it’s a foregone conclusion that both the Reds will win the Premiership and Salah will be crowned as the league’s best players.
His statistics are a wonder to behold. Salah has scored 27 goals with 17 assists this season already, producing numbers at the age of 32 that are unlike anything we have seen in Premier League history and wouldn’t look out of place next to prime Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi numbers.
But beyond Salah, Liverpool have another player who, in literally any other season, would have a compelling case to win the Premier League Player of the Season honors.
That is none other than center back Virgil van Dijk. Defenders don’t win individual awards anywhere near as often as attacking players, but we’ve actually seen center backs honored more frequently in England than in other leagues.
Virgil van Dijk won the Premier League Player of the Season in 18/19
For example, Nemanja Vidic won the Premier League Player of the Season award twice, Manchester City stars Ruben Dias and Vincent Kompany have won it, and Van Dijk himself earned the honors back in 2018/19 when Liverpool established themselves as the best team in Europe.
Van Dijk is, like, Salah, well above the age of 30 but still undeniably the best in the world in his position. This season, the Dutchman has led Liverpool with 78 pass attempts per game and a completion percentage hovering near 92.
Meanwhile, Van Dijk ha been a stalwart defensively with 1.1 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game while being dribbled past just 0.2 times per match, forming the foundation of a defense that has indeed been worthy of a championship in 2024/25.
Defenders don’t get enough praise, but because there’s been so many amazing center backs in the Premier League, those world-class defensive players in the English top flight do get their due credit from the mainstream observers.
In Van Dijk’s case, he’s being overshadowed by a teammate who is putting up literally historic numbers this season. But on his own merit, Van Dijk has been exceptional, too, and when comparing his numbers and leadership impact on the Liverpool defense, it’s hard to find any other center back in world football operating at a higher level than the 33-year-old former Premier League Player of the Season winner.
Joe Soriano covers West Ham for Green Street Hammers and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.