Virgil van Dijk reveals his unseen Liverpool ally as captain rhymes off 4 megastars he can turn to

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has revealed he is drawing motivation from basketball legend LeBron James.

James is part of Liverpool's ownership through his Fenway Sports Group investment and the Dutch player represented him at the release of his new clothing range 'LFC x LeBron' earlier this month. A video was shared by the English Premier League giants showcasing Van Dijk viewing a message from James where the basketball star ace said he thinks Van Dijk will do "amazing things" for the Reds and encouraged him to "strive for greatness".

A determined Van Dijk responded saying "the King has spoken" and it's clear he plans on using LeBron's encouraging words as fuel when quadruple-pursuing Liverpool square up against their arch rivals, Manchester United, in the FA Cup match on Sunday.

Van Dijk applauded LeBron's phrase stating, "That phrase he uses is perfect and it could be used for a lot of things," He continued: "For me personally, I definitely try and follow that because I want to achieve the most I can in life and get the maximum out of myself, the team and the position we're in."

As captain, Van Dijk belives they are approaching this season from a strong position, reports the Mirror: "We're in a good place to do that this season - again. Every season is always a challenge, but this season we're in a special situation."

He admits he's learning from LeBron James and other professional athletes about handling both the ups and downs. The former Celtic defender confessed: "I look at all the top athletes because I feel they all have a big role, either as a role model or for their team and community, and there are so many things you can learn."

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk has been talking about how he looks up to sports stars