According to former Celtic boss Ronny Deila, Premier League giants Manchester City reportedly passed up the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk when the Dutch defender played his trade at the Scottish outfit, as the current New York City FC manager explained that his transfer advice fell on deaf ears at the time.
Van Dijk had initially made a name for himself in Britain when he joined Scottish Premier League giants Celtic, spending two years at Parkhead, winning three Scottish Premier League championships and one Scottish League Cup. The youngster at the time was already tipped for stardom as fans in Scotland felt that the centre back was too good to continue playing in the Scottish Premier League.
Premier League’s south coast club Southampton were eventually the club from England to secure the services of the talented youngster but Manchester City were also sniffing around for Van Dijk at the time.
Van Dijk was registered on Man City’s transfer wishlist once again about two and a half seasons later following colossal displays with the Saints but this time Liverpool profited from making the quick move.
The Reds completed the signing of Virgil van Dijk in a club-record £75million deal and the Merseyside giants have benefited immensely with the centre back in their ranks.
However, Ronny Delia explains how Man City missed the chance to sign Van Dijk at the Etihad stadium.
While speaking to reporters, the Norwegian manager said, “Did I get in touch with City? Yes. I said you have to take him. They said, ‘okay, tell me the best European game he has played and we will watch it’. I couldn’t tell them what game that was because he hadn’t had any real good European games. He was really dominant in Scotland but he got sent off against Inter away. That was a big test. I think if he had played fantastically in that game, he would have been bought.”
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