Manchester United legend Gary Neville has named the Liverpool player he would pick when asked if he could take anyone from Jurgen Klopp’s squad and put them into the ranks of his former club.
It has been a phenomenal return to form for Liverpool this season. Until their trip to Old Trafford before the international break, the Reds were challenging on four fronts.
They remain in the hunt for the Premier League. So with that, you would think that Gary Neville would have a number of names to pick from when it comes to poaching a Liverpool player for Manchester United.
Unfortunately, Erik ten Hag‘s side have moved backwards this season. They have failed to build on the promise which they showed during the Dutchman’s first year in charge. And there are some who would be surprised if ten Hag was still in charge of Manchester United next season.
There are some encouraging signs at Old Trafford. But there is clearly plenty of work ahead. So you would imagine that Manchester United fans would, reluctantly, be able to pick out several players from the Liverpool squad.
Mohamed Salah remains one of the Premier League’s best. Meanwhile, there is a lot of potential being shown by the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz.
But speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville opted for the Liverpool captain as the one he would put in his United side.
“I would probably take van Dijk. I just think van Dijk would bring a dominance to the team and a presence to the team that we probably haven’t got,” he said.
“We haven’t got a forward as good as Mo Salah. But we’ve got talented forwards. I always think if you’ve got a spine of strength and presence; we always say, don’t we, there’s no Roy Keanes anymore, there’s no Vincent Kompanys anymore, there’s no John Terrys anymore, there actually is one now at Liverpool when you think about how he’s performed this season, in van Dijk.
“He is a massive presence on that pitch. He’s not the same character as maybe some of those that I’ve mentioned. But he actually is quite dominant on the pitch, and he does actually speak a lot more than many people think. And he is actually someone you can see he’s got an aura about him.
“And I think if you want to change Manchester United’s complete and utter culture, they need a dominant person that holds them together, and I think that van Dijk would control Mainoo, even someone like Antony or Rashford. I think he would build them, not break them.”
Van Dijk is arguably playing some of the best football of his career right now. There have been times when he has been doubted, particularly after spending much of the 2020/21 season on the sidelines due to injury.
But being given the captaincy appears to have helped him find another gear. Many will forever remember how important van Dijk was in that Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea this season.
And it would be fitting if he was the man to lift the Premier League title next month, particularly with Klopp gearing up to step aside.
Van Dijk’s signing helped elevate a Liverpool side that showed potential, but looked some way off. As Neville suggests, Manchester United need to find their own from somewhere if they are going to return to the title picture anytime soon.
