Background and career
Virgil van Dijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvɪrdʑɪl vɑn ˈdɛik]; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, and one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history, he is known for his strength, leadership, speed and aerial ability.
After beginning his professional career with Groningen, Van Dijk moved to Celtic in 2013. At Celtic, he won the Scottish Premiership and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons with the club, and won the Scottish League Cup in the second. In 2015, he joined Southampton before signing for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, a then-world-record transfer fee for a defender. With Liverpool, Van Dijk reached back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter. He was also named PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season. Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and helped end the club's 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League. He is the only defender to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and has finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player, all in 2019. Van Dijk has also been selected in the FIFPRO Men's World 11 in five different years.
Van Dijk represented the Netherlands at under-19 and under-21 levels. He made his senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2015 and assumed full captaincy of the national team in March 2018. The following year, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they finished runners-up. He also captained his national side to the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2024.
Virgil van Dijk was born on 8 July 1991 in Breda, North Brabant, to a Dutch father, Ron van Dijk, and a Surinamese mother, Hellen Chin Fo Sieeuw, who is Afro-Surinamese and of part Chinese descent. The Chinese surname Chin Fo Sieeuw derives from the given name of his maternal great-grandfather, Chin Fo Sieeuw (Chinese: 陳火秀, romanised: Chén Huǒxiù), who emigrated from Guangdong to Suriname around 1920. He has a younger brother and sister, who are two and ten years younger than him respectively.
Van Dijk grew up in Kesteren, in the Haagse Beemden district of Breda. His father left the family when he was 11 years old. Van Dijk first lived with his father for a while before making the choice to go back to live with his mother, after which his father broke off contact.
How Virgil van Dijk makes money
Celtic 2013–14 season On 21 June 2013, Van Dijk signed with Celtic for a fee of around £2.6 million, on a four-year deal including a 10% selling-on fee for Groningen.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth, in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
