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We've all had an opinion that has aged terribly, but Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard's take on Virgil van Dijk signing for Liverpool will take some beating.

As we all know, the Dutch international arrived at Anfield in a record-breaking £75m deal from Southampton back in December 2017, after a six-month long transfer saga.

Eventually, Jurgen Klopp got his man despite being reported by the Saints over an illegal approach to nab the former Celtic man from their clutches, and whilst almost everyone was convinced that Van Dijk would be an excellent acquisition, Johnson wasn't as sure.

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Instead of commenting on what Liverpool would be getting for their money, Johnson went on to compare the 27-year-old to Chelsea youngster Andreas Christensen - in fact, he said that the young Dane was a better player than Liverpool's new No.4.

At the time, Christensen was a regular feature in the Blues team under Antonio Conte, and was putting in some impressive performance in fairness to Johnson - however, he wasn't anywhere near the level of Van Dijk.

Since then, the 23-year-old and Van Dijk have embarked on contrasting journeys. Christensen has found himself out of Maurizio Sarri's starting eleven in favour of David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger, whilst Liverpool's colossus has risen to become arguably the best defender in world football right now.

Klopp's man mountain has completely transformed their defence from a soft touch into Europe's sturdiest backline, whilst also finding the time to notch four goals and two assists to boot.

In stark contrast, Christensen has managed just four Premier League starts for the west Londoners this season, and looks to have made little progress in the year-and-a-half since Johnson's bold claim.

If anything, Johnson's rash statement proves that you should probably wait a little bit longer than the day of someone's arrival to make such a bold assumption.