Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk could have moved to West Bromwich Albion according to former club midfielder Darren Fletcher.
Prior to his move to England, Van Dijk was plying his trade for Scottish champions Celtic when his excellent form caught the interest of various Premier League clubs.
Ultimately, it was Southampton who managed to get their hands on the Dutchman in 2015 and it was at St Mary’s where he then developed into one of the most sought-after centre-backs in the division.
However, things could have been different after Fletcher revealed that West Brom had the opportunity to bringhim to the Hawthorns but opted to go for Jonny Evans instead.
“With my Scottish connections, I watched him play for Celtic,” Fletcher revealed on Sky Sports.
“We were looking at centre backs after the first summer we’d been there, and I was recommending Jonny Evans, who we managed to get, which was fantastic.
“And I also said ‘go and get Van Dijk’, I think it was before he went to Southampton for £10m, £11m.
“Obviously West Brom felt it was a little bit too much.”
Van Dijk’s Liverpool career to date
The mountainous defender clearly played well enough to convince Liverpool to spend £75m on him in January of this year, earning Southampton a significant profit for the 27-year-old.
He has since gone on to, not only shore up the Liverpool defence, but also establish himself as their main man at the back and is the envy of all of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester City who were heavily linked with his signature prior to his arrival at Anfield.
A Champions League final and a top-four finish last campaign followed Van Dijk’s arrival, but he is now aiming to help Liverpool chase down the Premier League title while also going one step further in the Champions League.
The post Virgil van Dijk nearly ended up at West Brom, says Darren Fletcher appeared first on Squawka News.
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