“I Feel Blessed”- Virgil van Dijk Emotional on Liverpool Return After 285 Days of Injury

Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk has seen some tough days in the past year. He was one of the best center-backs in the world and was extremely close to beating Barcelona forward and perennial winner Lionel Messi to the Ballon D’Or two years ago.

However, it all went wrong for him as he was injured in a Merseyside derby against arch-rivals Everton. Everton’s English goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, was the man responsible for van Dijk’s injury, and it took the Dutch defender 285 days to come back from the injury.

He took to Twitter to talk about this heartfelt moment after spending almost a year on the sidelines in two separate posts. He played in a pre-season friendly match against Hertha Berlin and was at fault for the fourth goal that the German side scored, but that is to be expected if someone spends such a long period of time away from football.

van Dijk said, “285 days ago, I started on a journey back towards playing. It’s hard to express how I am feeling, but it’s important to me that I say I feel blessed to have had the support of so many incredible people.

“The surgeon, my physios, coaches and staff who have been with me in my corner since day one. My teammates for giving me energy and keeping my head up.

“The fans for their love, support, and encouragement. And most of all, my family because without them, I’d be nothing. Thank you. The work doesn’t stop now. It’s only just starting. We keep going!”

Moreover, he appreciated the club’s fans and was ecstatic about returning to the club. Liverpool did suffer without their best player, and hopefully, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with after van Dijk’s return.

Jurgen Klopp talks about Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp shared his thoughts on van Dijk’s and Joe Gomez’s return. He was ecstatic, and he will gladly welcome the great options he has at his disposal for the two center-back positions. “It was a nice feeling, huh? A nice feeling,” Klopp said of the pair.

“It’s been 200 and 80 something days [out] for Virg and not much less for Joe that they haven’t played football, so it’s nice that we have that first step,” Klopp exclaimed.

The pair were Liverpool’s first choice, and hence their return will help the club return to their lofty standards in the next season.

Additionally, van Dijk and Joe Gomez shared a heartwarming moment together as they were preparing to come on in the Hertha Berlin game.

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