Virgil van Dijk could have been an Arsenal player for just £12 million.
The Dutch international rose to prominence in the Scottish Premier League following his transfer from Groningen.
He produced defensive heroics, becoming a vital part of their back line winning the league in back-to-back season’s.
Naturally, he was attracting plenty of interest with a few Premier League clubs keeping tabs on him including Arsenal.
However, Southampton ultimately secured van Dijk’s services, sealing his transfer for a reported £13 million.
Arsenal had the opportunity to snap up van Dijk for a measly £12 million, but turned down the chance.
Why?
Well, because he was too ‘nonchalant’.
That’s according to John Collins who was Celtic’s assistant manager during the time of van Dijk’s transfer.
Arsene Wenger expressed an interest in the towering defender yet the club’s now former chief scout, Steve Rowley, reckoned the centre-half was too ‘nonchalant’.
“Arsenal’s chief scout thought he was too nonchalant,” Collins told beIN Sport via Metro.
Collins added: “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.”
After excelling in England’s top flight with Southampton, Liverpool prized him away from the South Coast by tabling a staggering £75 million offer.
He’s since become an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s defensive set-up and slowly being recognised as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
sportbible.com
