Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce has dismissed claims that Virgil van Dijk is the greatest Premier League centre-back of all time.
However, he acknowledges that it would be a monumental achievement if the Liverpool captain were to lift the Premier League title in May.
Van Dijk has been in sensational form this season, playing a pivotal role in Liverpool’s surge to the top of the table.
The Reds currently boast a nine-point lead, having secured 11 wins from their opening 13 games.
The Dutch international delivered a commanding performance in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over reigning champions Manchester City, where he nullified Erling Haaland’s threat with ease.
Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has since declared Van Dijk the best centre-back in Premier League history, placing him ahead of Chelsea legend John Terry.
However, Allardyce, a former centre-back himself during his playing days with clubs such as Bolton Wanderers, Coventry City, and Millwall, strongly disagrees with Carragher’s assessment.
“I don’t think the best of all time, no,” Sam Allardyce said.
“Not with what we’ve seen in the Premier League over the years and what the quality of the centre-halves has been. He should be in the top six, but he’s not number one.
“I think that he now seems to have fully recovered from the cruciate.
“So, after he got injured at Everton and he had a cruciate ligament operation, he came back and looked a yard short. It looked like he couldn’t quite read the game as well as he used to.
“But he seems to have overcome that now, and that is a huge injury to overcome by the way, and he’s back on top form.
“So, he’s right up there, there’s no doubt. But I wouldn’t call him the number one of all time. It’s a big shout, that one.
“But Carragher’s bound to say that because he’s Liverpool, isn’t he? I’d say he’s the best now. In fact, by far the best now, certainly with the way he’s playing this year. It’ll be a big miss to Liverpool if they lose him.”
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