Virgil van Dijk is one of eight nominees for the Premier League Player of the Season award, with the Liverpool captain the club’s sole representative.
The Dutchman returned to his imperious best this season, dusting off his struggles from last season to become a formidable force at the back once again.
Van Dijk has been forced to miss only three games this season – due to illness and suspension – and has been rested a further seven times.
His elite availability and dominance earned him plenty of plaudits, and although Liverpool have faded towards the backend of the season, it does not cast a shadow on the captain’s season.
And his place on the shortlist for the Premier League Player of the Season shows just that, with Van Dijk joined by seven others.
Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Martin Odegaard, Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins and Declan Rice all join the No. 4 as nominees, with voting open here ahead of the deadline at 12pm (BST) on Monday, May 13.
Public votes are combined with those of a panel of football experts to determine the winner, who will be announced on May 18 – the day before the final game of the season.
Van Dijk has won the award before, in 2018/19, and is vying to become only the fifth player to win the gong multiple times after Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Kevin De Bruyne.
The 32-year-old was the last Liverpool player to pick up the prize, a season after Mohamed Salah.
Van Dijk has missed only two Premier League games this season, completing 90 minutes on 33 different occasions and adding two goals and two assists to his eight clean sheets.
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