Ex-Manchester United defender Gary Pallister has paid the ultimate compliment to Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk.
The five-time Premier League champion has said the Dutchman's arrival at Anfield in January 2018 was the missing "piece" in Jurgen Klopp's puzzle.
When he made the move from Southampton, Van Dijk immediately helped to shore up the Reds backline and helped mount back-to-back fights for the Premier League title as well as winning the Champions League.
In response to this Pallister has likened his arrival to Eric Cantona's under Alex Ferguson.
"He’s a bit like Cantona was for us, that final piece of the jigsaw,” said Pallister as quoted by the Daily Star.
“Liverpool were looking for a really dominant centre half to take them to the next level and they found that in Virgil van Dijk.
“I always remember a good friend of mine, Tony Mowbray, talking about Van Dijk a year or so before he went to Liverpool.
"He was saying, ‘I can’t believe one of the top four teams haven’t bought him because he looks a real exceptional player’.
“Then Liverpool paid what seemed to be over the odds for his services and he has taken to it like a duck to water.
“He is a pivotal figure, a leader that you need in your back four, the final piece of the jigsaw. He has been superb since he has been there.”
