According to David Moss, a former Celtic scout, Virgil van Dijk only made the switch from Southampton to Liverpool at the age of 26, due to lack of confidence in the defender. “He was ready after Celtic for a step to a top six club in the Premier League, but they just didn’t dare to get him,” the scout told Goal.
Van Dijk was 26 years old when he started working for Liverpool in January 2018. The now thirty-year-old defender and captain of the Dutch made a strong impression at Celtic and Southampton in the previous seasons, but according to Moss, many clubs did not dare to deal with him. “When he was at Celtic, the number of Premier League clubs that called me to inquire about Van Dijk was enormous,” said Moss, co-responsible for Van Dijk’s arrival at Celtic in 2013. “I always said the same thing to everyone: “He’s like a grown man playing football in a children’s playground. He is clearly different from others. I said, ‘Just draw it immediately, don’t think about it.’”
Moss was soon impressed by Van Dijk. “He was fast, won all his headers, unbeatable in one-on-one matches, he could pass 60 meters with both feet and he scored free kicks,” the former Celtic scout sums up the qualities of the player. Dutch defender on. “Unbelievable, but I kept getting apologies. It was often about his performance in the Champions League or whether it was not much in the Scottish league. They wouldn’t listen.”
“Everyone at Celtic had full confidence in him, but a lot of people in football didn’t,” Moss continues. “For me he didn’t have to make the step to Southampton, he was ready from Celtic for a direct step to a side in the top six of the Premier League. These clubs just didn’t dare to get him.” Southampton eventually paid around sixteen million euros in 2015 to take over the mandekker from Celtic. Three years later, Van Dijk was sold to Liverpool for a sixfold. Under manager Jürgen Klopp he won the Champions League and Premier League, among other things.