Arsenal turned down chance to sign Van Dijk says ex-Celtic assistant manager

Arsenal turned down the opportunity of signing Virgil Van Dijk, according to former Celtic assistant manager John Collins. 

Having established his reputation in the Scottish Premier League with Celtic, the talented Dutchman caught the eye of many potential suitors, with most belonging to the English Premier League.

The Gunners – then still managed by former boss Arsene Wenger – considered the possibility of bringing the centre-back to north London but former chief scout, Steve Rowley decided that he was “too nonchalant” to be playing in defence on a regular basis at the Emirates Stadium.

Speaking on beIN Sport, Collins spoke of how Arsenal missed out on a potential bargain of a player, with the reported fee at the time falling around the £12 million mark.

“Arsenal’s chief scout thought he was too nonchalant,” the former Everton and Scotland midfielder said. “Maybe that was part of his game but he ticks so many of the other boxes. He’s got pace, power, balance, distribution and he’s good in the air. He can be a bit nonchalant but he is a quality player.

“Gary McAllister was the assistant to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and I told him ‘I hope you’re going to come and take Virgil’ but Brendan didn’t fancy him and didn’t think he was better than what he already had.

“He would’ve cost around £12m – every team watched him regularly but the worry was he was showing it against Scottish players, but you could tell he was strong, powerful and a well-balanced player.”

What happened next for Virgil?

With Arsenal turning down the chance of signing Van Dijk around three years ago, he instead moved to the south coast and joined fellow Premier League side Southampton for a reported £13 million.

Within one season at the club, he was offered a new bumper six-year-deal, such was the talent the big defender possessed.

Having made 80 appearances for Southampton, both Van Dijk and Liverpool made their feelings extremely clear that they wanted to merge together, bringing the player to Merseyside to help their pursuit of the Premier League title.

After much contention between the two clubs, a £75 million transfer fee was agreed between the two parties, making Van Dijk the most expensive defender of all time.

Since then, he has fitted fantastically into Jurgen Klopp’s side and has transformed their back four with his assurance, class and elegance.

This season, Liverpool have only conceded two Premier League goals, winning all six of their matches in the process.

Just think, that £62 million profit Southampton made could have gone into the bank of north London.

 

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