Lille defender Jose Fonte says he was at Anfield to watch last Monday’s Merseyside Derby.
The former Southampton player told Le Petit Lillois that he was visiting with his son, who’s a Virgil van Dijk-loving Liverpool fan.
“I went with Lucas, my little one. He’d been asking me for a long time,” said Fonte. “Liverpool is his favourite club. His favourite player is Van Dijk, not his father!
“It’s a special game, there’s always this special atmosphere. I had never been there as a fan, so it was also a great experience for me, I can watch a nice game, I could meet old friends and the evening went well.”
Fonte back to see his old mate Virgil
Turning forty later this year, Fonte is still going amazingly strong in France. After moving to Lille in 2018, the Portugal international may have been seen to be winding down an impressive career.
Instead, he’s continued to defy father time. Fonte has been a mainstay in Les Dogues defence for the past four-and-a-half years, helping them to a Ligue 1 title in 2021.
With seven-and-a-half years at Southampton under his belt prior that, he’s also well used to turning out at Anfield.
It’s funny his son should be so enamoured with Van Dijk, too. His father was the Dutchman’s partner in defence at St Mary’s for a couple of years.
Unfortunately for Fonte Jnr though, Virgil remained on the bench throughout Monday’s win over Everton.
Not able to prove his fitness in time, the 31-year-old’s return to the line-up has instead come with today’s trip to Newcastle.
With his dad preparing to face PSG tomorrow, it seems little Lucas won’t be present to see his hero in action at St James’ Park.
Having caught the Anfield bug, hopefully he’ll be back in L4 to catch the big man strutting his stuff sometime soon.