Former Liverpool centre-back Conor Coady has opened up on his thoughts on Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk and insists that the player's influence on the Reds side has been phenomenal.
The former Southampton star was bought by Liverpool for a club record fee of £75m last year but justified his price tag by helping the Reds to their sixth Champions League success last season.
Van Dijk, who was named PFA Players' Player of the Year, played an important role in the Merseyside-based club challenging Manchester City for the Premier League title until the last day of the campaign, claiming 20 clean sheets in the process.
Coady, who rose through the ranks of the Liverpool academy, reflected on the Dutchman's impact on the team and put forward an incident from the Champions League final as an example of his abilities.
"Everybody realises how good he is as a footballer, what he has done for Liverpool in the last couple of years and how he has approached the football club and improved the defence and the whole team", Coady told Liverpool's official website.
"The best thing about him is he is always in control of what he is doing, he is in control of an attacker, he is in control of how to defend a one-v-one.
"I remember when [Heung-Min] Son was running at him in the Champions League final, you always knew he was in control of what he was doing and he ended up making a tackle in the end – which he has done for the majority of the season.
"The way he has changed Liverpool has been brilliant to see."
Van Dijk, who also led the Netherlands to the final of the Nations League tournament, is one of the frontrunners for the Ballon d'Or award.
