Virgil van Dijk vs John Terry: Who is the Premier League's greatest centre-back?

Virgil van Dijk and John Terry are widely considered to be among the greatest centre-backs in Premier League history.

Terry, former Chelsea and England captain, was a colossus of a defender and the perfect epitome of traditional centre-half – although he could certainly play, too.

Meanwhile, Van Dijk’s career has been more of a slow-burner, but his £75 million switch to Liverpool in January 2018 thrust him into the spotlight and uncoincidentally led to him being considered the world’s greatest in his position.

Who, though, is the better player? Let’s first start by taking a look at their careers.

Terry was a Chelsea man through and through. The legendary Englishman made his debut for the club in a League Cup tie in 1998 against Aston Villa.

He would go on to make a staggering 715 appearances for the club, scoring an impressive 67 goals.

Terry was appointed club captain in 2004 when under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho and remained their talismanic leader all the way up until he moved on 13 years later.

By the time he’d shook the responsibility he was the most successful Chelsea captain of all time, having led the club to five Premier League titles and a single Champions League win – domestic cup honours were all but a formality throughout Terry’s reign, too.

Some resume, huh?

Van Dijk has had a somewhat different route to the top and is still some way off Terry when it comes to team achievements.

Being born in the city of Breda, Netherlands, Van Dijk began his senior career for FC Groningen in the Eredivisie.

After two seasons in the Netherlands’ top-flight, Celtic smartly swooped in and secured Van Dijk’s services for £2.7 million and the towering Dutchman would spend a further two seasons playing in