Current Chelsea player still gets called ‘Virgil van Dijk’ by former team mates | OneFootball

Chelsea centre back Mamadou Sarr apparently still gets called Virgil van Dijk by his former youth team mates.

It’s obviously a huge compliment for the young defender who was recalled by Chelsea from sister club Strasbourg in the January transfer window.

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Van Dijk is largely considered one of the best Premier League centre backs of all time and still one of the best around now. So for Sarr to be called Van Dijk is pretty huge for him really.

Of course, you often see and hear of these comparisons being made, and many of them can often be a little wild or premature. We just have to wait and see how well Sarr develops and progresses in time, but he certainly looks like he’s got a lot of promise about him.

The new Van Dijk?

Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team’s fourth goal during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on February 06, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

According to a report from The Sun this week, the Senegal defender, nicknamed “Virgil van Dijk” during his Lyon days, showed all the attributes that made Blues chiefs recall him early from his loan spell at Strasbourg in January in his first game back for The Blues in the 4-0 away win at Hull City on Friday night.

Mainly because his reading of the game and natural make-up were more suited to being a defender, many of his youth team-mates apparently still call him Virgil van Dijk, believing he could make a tackle without even moving his leg.

In other news…

The big debate among Chelsea fans today is around which defenders they might sell – the stats make it pretty obvious who the choice should be.

If you look beyond the stats, we also just thought through the logic of who might be going in our post here. The answers are not exactly the same.