Stam: Van Dijk surpasses Baresi and Blanc - Man Utd Treble winner

In an interview with ESPN, Stam was presented with a challenging decision - to pick between some of the greatest defenders of all time. The names included Carles Puyol, Alessandro Nesta, Ronald Koeman, Rio Ferdinand, Marquinhos, Nemanja Vidic, Fabio Cannavaro, Franco Baresi, Laurent Blanc, and Sol Campbell. However, without hesitation, Stam consistently chose Van Dijk as his top pick each time.

"You just look at the specific qualities of those other players," Stam explains. "If you look at Virgil, I think he has more to offer than the other players."

Finally, Stam was asked to choose between himself and Virgil van Dijk.

“Jaap,” laughs Stam. "That's obvious!"