A Turkish coach has incredibly stated that former Tottenham Hotspur defender Davinson Sanchez is superior to Liverpool hero Virgil van Dijk.
Sanchez left Tottenham in September 2023 when Turkish giants Galatasaray paid £7.9million (€9.5m / US$10.6m) for his services. The centre-back has since made 37 appearances for Galatasaray in all competitions, with five of those outings coming this season.
Sanchez has established himself as an important player for Galatasaray by putting in a host of solid performances, and this has led to stunning praise from Servet Cetin, who represented Galatasaray over 100 times during his playing days and was most recently in charge of fellow Turkish outfit Sivasspor.
In an interview with Ajansspor, Cetin tried to justify why Sanchez is better than Van Dijk, despite the latter being regarded as one of the best defenders of all time.
“Sanchez is a better centre-back than [Van] Dijk,” he claimed.
“In England, centre-backs play locally, they do not disturb their positions. They don’t get into the ranks of the right-back or left-back. They always take a position in the centre. They usually play heavy. Because they are physically good, they intercept the ball in the centre.
“But they falter when they have to open up. Van Dijk had a very difficult time against Baris Alper Yılmaz in the Turkey vs Netherlands national [team] match.
“Sanchez, on the other hand, has a one-on-one game. He has pace, plays in a wider area and doesn’t miss men. He does a much more difficult job. He gets off the ball very well. Sanchez is a much better stopper than van Dijk.
“Maybe people will say come off it, but it doesn’t matter if it’s Liverpool. For example, Sami Hyypia came to Turkey and was not liked. So, Sanchez is better than Van Dijk and many other centre-backs in the Premier League.”
Sanchez, Van Dijk claim is absurd
Tottenham fans will be surprised about this claim, as Sanchez failed to live up to expectations after moving to North London in a £42m deal in August 2017, a club record at the time.
It is clear that the Colombia star has improved since leaving England and has started to show the form which prompted Spurs to originally sign him. Sanchez has even won the Super Lig title and Turkish Super Cup with his current team.
Van Dijk is one of the best defenders the Premier League has ever seen, as he regularly keeps top strikers quiet while also spraying out passes from deep and being a threat from set pieces.
The Dutch star, who has been Liverpool’s captain since July 2023, played an integral role as Liverpool won major trophies such as the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup under Jurgen Klopp.
