Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce has dismissed claims that Virgil van Dijk is the greatest Premier League centre-back of all time.

However, he acknowledges that if the Liverpool captain leads his team to the championship in May, it would rank as one of the league’s greatest achievements.

Van Dijk has been in exceptional form this season, playing a key role in helping Liverpool establish a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League with 11 wins from 13 matches.

His dominant display in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City, where he neutralized Erling Haaland, prompted Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to declare Van Dijk the best centre-back in Premier League history, surpassing Chelsea legend John Terry.

Allardyce, who played as a centre-back during his career with teams like Bolton Wanderers, Coventry City, and Millwall, strongly disagrees with that assessment.

“I don’t think he’s the best of all time, no,” Allardyce said. “Not when you consider the quality of centre-backs we’ve seen in the Premier League over the years. He should be in the top six, but he’s not number one.

“After his cruciate ligament injury at Everton, he seemed to lose a step and struggled to read the game as well as before.

But now he appears to have fully recovered, which is impressive given the severity of that injury. He’s back to his best.

“He’s undoubtedly among the best, but calling him the greatest ever is a big statement. Of course, Carragher would say that—he’s Liverpool through and through.

I’d say Van Dijk is the best centre-back right now, by a considerable margin. If Liverpool were to lose him, it would be a massive blow.”