Virgil Van Dijk boots are comprised of the Nike Tiempo, a heritage boot boot favoured by other stars like Jamal Musiala and Frenkie de Jong. The Tiempo has gone through several generations, transforming from being a K-leather boot to now being a synthetic leather one. Its physical build has also dramatically changed over time, becoming less and less bulky to at least be on par with modern lightweight boots.
Tiempo Ligera Pro Attack
Van Dijk was one of those that sometimes sticks with his pairs longer and at times took time to switch to the latest colourway/generation. He did eventually moved on from the Tiempo Legend 10 to wear a pair from the 2026 Attack Pack, but he did so preferring the second-tier Ligera Pro. The boot had the same Tech Leather upper from the Maestro Elite, but the Ligera Pro opted for a floating tongue construction instead as well as the familiar one-piece solateplate with conical studs. As for the colourway, the Attack Ligera Pro had the same white predominance, with blue and pink accents covering their respective lateral and medial halves. Black Swooshes with pink outlines completed the design of the colourway.
| Model | Quality | Pitches | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Attack |  FlyTouch Plus upper |  |  >> Get Pro Tiempo Ligera at Nike |
Tiempo Legend Emerald
With Emerald, Van Dijk got a Tiempo that celebrated its 30th year of existence. It showcased an emerald green colourway and a quilted texture all over the upper. Emerald Tiempo was also released in Pro and Academy levels, in addition to other soleplate types.
Golden Touch Tiempo Legend 10
As one of the established names to wear the Tiempo brand, Virgil Van Dijk got the chance to wear the special edition Golden Touch release of the Tiempo Legend 10. As the name implied, the boot was predominantly golden, matte in finish for the upper adorned with chrome-like Swooshes.
Tiempo Made in Italy
This particular Tiempo release paid tribute to the Nike’s popular factory in Montebelluna, and its colourway is somehow influenced by Andre Pirlo’s 2006 white with blue Air Tiempo Legend. It was released way earlier than when Van Dijk wore this boots midway through the 2022/23 season, possibly as a holding boot while Nike works on releasing newer colourways for the regular Tiempo post-Generation World Cup.
Space Purple Tiempo Legend 9
Van Dijk played at the heart of the Netherland’s defence during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, wearing the Tiempo Legend 9 from the Nike Generation Pack. The boot’s deep shade of purple on the upper and the chrome finish on the outsole produced a very classy colourway, apt for a world-class player like the 6’5″ centre-back. We think it could have been much better and cleaner for the outsole to maintain that golden-copper gloss all through out and just deal away with the peach cream on the rear. But the dotted texturing in Pink Blast on the foam inserts, as well as the white Swoosh with copper outline were all fantastic details.
What does VVD Wear?
Van Dijk has become more of a feature player for Nike, from his performances on pitch and he was the first to be seen wearing the Dazzle Camo Tiempo in training pre-launch of the Tiempo 8.
It seems often Virgil gets custom versions of the boots, unavailable to the public with slight modifications to suit his preferences like, he wore a modified Tiempo Legend VII from the Game Over pack complete with the personalisations of his wife’s and daughters’ name Rike, Nila, and Jadi, the Suriname flag, his children’s birth dates, and the Dutch flag. As a key player for Nike going into the future, expect Nike to be creating a signature edition Tiempo for Van Dijk at some point in the future.
Van Dijk had stints with Eredivisie sides Willem II and Groningen and Premier league club Southampton, but he found successes in Celtic as they bag the Scottish Premiership in 2013-2014 season and the domestic double in the following year and currently in Liverpool with their 2019 UCL and FIFA Club World Cup titles. The Balon d’Or last December 2019 was a close one, as he was in the running to be the first defender since Cannavaro in 2006 to win the award but eventually was narrowly edged out by Lionel Messi. Consistently providing a rock-solid anchor in defence and giving more freedom for Liverpool to attack
His defensive prowess comes from a lot of sources; VVD is physically imposing with his 6’5” and wide body frame. His speed is above average for a central defender and has wide strides to cover a lot of ground in a short time. He has a good read of the game and composure to cope up even with the paciest of football players. No less than Lionel Messi himself said that VVD is hard to get past because of the defender’s impeccable timing along with the defender’s athletic attributes. And while his defence is the main priority of the opposition to break, he puts in his stamp in the attack by being a threat in the air from set-pieces.
