EXCLUSIVE: Virgil van Dijk talks his legacy and the tournament set up in his name as he closes in on eight years as a Liverpool player
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk launched the Virgil Legacy Trophy at former club Willem II earlier this year
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Virgil van Dijk was just about wrapping up for the day at Burnley's Turf Moor in September when the Liverpool and Netherlands captain received a phone call from his homeland.
The Reds skipper was not long removed from guiding his side to 1-0 win over Scott Parker's Clarets in Lancashire when he was given the news that the inaugural competition named in his honour back in Tilburg, the home of his former club Willem II, had also been won by a team representing Liverpool FC.
In footage captured by official club channels for their popular 'Inside Anfield' feature on YouTube, Van Dijk can be seen on FaceTime with the young Reds, who themselves were celebrating their own victory over 350 miles away.
The Under-13s contingent who took part in the first-ever Virgil’s Legacy Trophy tournament had beaten Feyenoord 2-1 in the final and they wasted little time relaying the news to the man himself. Sixteen teams in total turned out for the youth tournament at the Eredivisie's Koning Willem Stadion and the competition was a huge success.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic and Southampton all had teams present, while Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Sporting took part alongside Inter and AC Milan.
"This is the place where the stars of tomorrow rise," claim the organisers and it was Liverpool striker Ade Adediran who was named as the tournament's MVP in an award named after Van Dijk's friend and team-mate Diogo Jota, who so tragically passed away in July. "Buzzing" was how Van Dijk described his emotions on the day after the getting call from Turf Moor and in an exclusive chat with the ECHO, he explains why he feels it is so important to help 'the stars of tomorrow' on their journey with tournaments such as the Virgil Legacy Trophy.
"One hundred percent that is the idea [to further my legacy]," Van Dijk says. "Obviously I spoke a lot about it over the last few months but you see, even my wife said after the Burnley game I was even more excited about the tournament than the result!"
At the age of 34, Van Dijk is more acutely aware of his Liverpool legacy than ever. A two-time Premier League winner and the first captain to lift the title in front of supporters for 35 years means his place in the Anfield annals is long since secure.
It's eight years this month now since Van Dijk gave supporters one of their most memorable, if admittedly belated Christmas gifts when it was confirmed on December 27, 2017 that the club had reached an agreement with Southampton to sign the centre-back for £75m.
That fee, of course, was a significant mark-up on what had been broadly sketched out at around the £60m mark a few months earlier when the Reds were forced to cease and desist from their pursuit after the Saints had threatened to complain over a tapping-up row.
Relations were rebuilt behind the scenes gradually after that initial early-June climbdown and Van Dijk, all these years on, stands as Liverpool finest-ever January capture. As he closes in on 350 Reds appearances across all competitions, no player has more victories in their first 250 league games than the skipper's tally of 170.
Such a statistic was clearly taken as a huge source of pride when it was directly put to Van Dijk recently, but an enduring reputation goes beyond what is simply achieved on the pitch.
His work in helping get the Legacy Trophy off the ground is done with a view to helping out the next generation as they take their first fledgling steps towards the sort of career enjoyed by the Reds' No.4.
He adds: "The Legacy Trophy, it meant a lot because it is the first edition but I want to leave this feeling behind, to all the kids participating, who are taking the steps on their journey to hopefully becoming professional footballers.
"Whether that works yes or no, I still want to give this experience to this whole combination of how we can go with them, so they can take a lot from it hopefully into their lives and they will never forget it. So obviously this was the first edition and hopefully it may last long."