‘Let me tell you’: Pundit now shares what Brendan Rodgers privately told him about Van Dijk at Celtic

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A pundit has shared what Brendan Rodgers told him about Virgil van Dijk when the Dutch superstar was at Celtic whilst manager of Liverpool.

The Dutch defender was signed by Neil Lennon but really shone during the Ronny Deila era and was a stand-out as the Norwegian manager continued Celtic’s quest for their second nine-in-a-row.

Van Dijk was eventually sold to Southampton in a £13m deal but Rodgers has since admitted that he was told about him at Liverpool but passed on trying to sign him according to pundit, Dave McKinnon.

McKinnon said [PLZ Soccer], “Let me tell you a story of what Brendan said to me when Celtic were playing against Hamilton.  I would talk to him about football and told him that I was down in England and he said to me, ‘I made a mistake when I was at Liverpool.

‘Because my scout told me [Virgil] van Dijk was a top, top player. But my interpretation of Scotland at that time was they didn’t really have to exert themselves and I didn’t think he’d be able to play 90 minutes all the time at a certain level because he was playing in Scotland. But I’ve changed my attitude now.’

“And as you know I think he could have got him for maybe £8-9 million and what did they pay eventually? £70m? So I think that was a mistake but I think it was a big lesson for him.”

Quite a story and one that was a really expensive one for Liverpool to learn as they eventually had to shell out £75m to prise him away from St Mary’s.

However, I don’t think many will be complaining too much about that. Van Dijk was pivotal to helping Liverpool pick up their first English Premier League title in 30 years and a Champions League title, an FA Cup and a League Cup alongside the UEFA SuperCup.

Money well spent many Liverpool fans would agree.

In other news, ‘Seriously considering’: 22-year-old ‘impressive’ Celtic star set for international breakthrough – journalist