Jordan Henderson defends Virgil van Dijk over fake Michael Ballack jibe

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has leapt to Virgil van Dijk’s defence after a fake quote attributed to Michael Ballack claimed that the Dutch centre-back is only highly rated because he has not faced top Premier League strikers such as Alan Shearer, Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry.

A spurious quote attributed to the former Chelsea and Germany midfielder went viral on social media last week, with many Liverpool fans angered by the suggestion that Van Dijk would have struggled against former Premier League strikers including Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Diego Costa.

The quote that has been widely shared on social media says: ‘Virgil van Dijk is very lucky to play in an era where there is no [Didier] Drogba, [Frank] Lampard, Alan Shearer, [Thierry] Henry, [Wayne] Rooney, [Robin] Van Persie, [Carlos] Tevez, [Emmanuel] Adebayor and Diego Costa in the Premier League.

‘No wonder they think he is the best defender in the league.’

Henderson, who appears to be unaware that the quote is false, responded to an Instagram post by backing up his Liverpool teammate Van Dijk.

In his response to the quote, Henderson wrote: ‘They’re the lucky ones’.

Meanwhile, Liverpool legend Steve Nicol also hit back at the suggestion that Van Dijk would have found it difficult against some of the Premier League’s best-ever strikers.

‘Well I’m interested to know which part of his game he’s not happy with because if you’re looking for a physical battle, are you telling me that Van Dijk couldn’t beat anybody up physically? Even Drogba?’ Nicol told ESPN.

‘It would be great to watch but don’t tell me that Drogba would walk all over him physically.

‘Pace-wise I don’t remember seeing anybody, whether it’s the Premier League or the Champions League, running past this guy. So that’s not a problem.

‘Can he pass the ball? Yes he can pass the ball. I’d love to know which part of Van Dijk’s game he thinks would be susceptible to any of these strikers that he was talking about.’

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