Virgil Van Dijk is still the best defender in the world, this confirms it

Mauricio Pellegrino has almost everything ready to become the new coach of Universidad de Chile. He is in Chile and defines the last details to be the blue DT in 2023. The Argentinian has a long career as a player and coach, which has taken him to Europe for years. On that continent he coincided with a mega star of Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk.

After an outstanding campaign at Deportivo Alaves in 2017, where he took the team to the final of the Copa del Rey, Pellegrino began his adventure at Southampton in England. At that club was a player who was already attracting the attention of the world's biggest clubs: Virgil van Dijk.

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The defender was 26 years old and wanted to change teams. The club declared him untransferable, which led to the Netherlands player's annoyance. "We don't want to sell Virgil to Liverpool and will happily let him sit in the stands all season if necessary," a club source told England's Express newspaper. The situation meant Pellegrino could not count on him in some matches.

When van Dijk returned to playing, his performances even increased, which meant that offers kept pouring in, until Liverpool finally bought him for £75m, making him the most expensive defender in history at the time. Pellegrino managed him in 12 games. After his departure in January 2018, Southampton's performance dropped and the Argentine ended up leaving the club in March due to poor results.

<strong>Van Dijk is the best defender in the world</strong>

The U's back line was the most criticised of the 2022 season. Ignacio and Bastián Tapia were the most targeted. Mauricio Pellegrino was a defender in his career that took him to Velez Sarsfield, Barcelona, Valencia and Liverpool, among others. The DT will be looking to improve the performance of his players and pass on to them the experience he gained in the world, as he did with Virgil van Dijk.