It is not VIRGIL VAN DIJK’s reputation to handle grunt labour.
However, ten years prior, the £75 million player for Liverpool and PFA Player of the Year was working as a pot washer at a Breda restaurant for £3 per hour.
10Virgil van Dijk worked as a pot washer earning four euros-an-hour in Breda’s Oncle Jean restaurant
10He has come a long way since and was crowned Player of the Year by his peersCredit: PA:Press Association
10Oncle Jean is located in the affluent Breda neighbourhood where Van Dijk was raised.At the age of seventeen, Van Dijk was employed in the kitchen on the second floor of Oncle Jean, a reputable restaurant located in a posh area of his native Holland.Between training and school, the defender, who was born to a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother, would cycle to Oncle Jean for a shift.Ten years later, Liverpool’s van Dijk—who massively won the BBC Player of the Year award—is leading his team’s assault against Man City in the Premier League title fight.Van Dijk might have won marigolds rather than trophies, but his goal is to break Anfield’s 29-year league title drought.The restaurant’s owner, Jacques Lips, used to advise the boy to give up on his dream of playing professional football and concentrate on cleaning pots instead.Lips was therefore astounded when Van Dijk made history by being the most expensive defender in history after joining Anfield from Southampton in January of last year.
“‘Stay here, Virgil,’ I used to say,” Lips told the Daily Mirror. “‘Here you have the opportunity at least to earn a few quid’. He has absolutely made it and I hold my hands up.
“He was a good worker. He would scrub hard and do his job properly. He was always here on the two busiest nights of the week.
“He was training hard to try and become a professional and had joined the academy of neighbours Willem II.”
Jacques Lips, owner of the restaurant, used to tell the youngster to forget his dream of becoming a professional footballer and focus on scrubbing pots.
So when Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in history after moving to Anfield from Southampton in January last year, Lips was gobsmacked.
“‘Stay here, Virgil,’ I used to say,” Lips told the Daily Mirror. “‘Here you have the opportunity at least to earn a few quid’. He has absolutely made it and I hold my hands up.
“He was a good worker. He would scrub hard and do his job properly. He was always here on the two busiest nights of the week.
“He was training hard to try and become a professional and had joined the academy of neighbours Willem II.”
