Virgil van Dijk took Liverpool FC’s defense to a new level. For a long time, however, the English top clubs doubted the Dutch.
Over 80 million euros for a Southampton FC player? The transfer of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 raised the eyebrows of many observers in the best Carlo Ancelotti style. Are those responsible for Liverpool not burning a lot of money there? No, they didn’t.
Van Dijk became the most important building block in Jürgen Klopp’s defense and cleared (almost) everything and everyone who wanted to pass him. Without van Dijk, the Champions League victory in 2019 and the English championship a year later – the first in 30 years – would have been difficult. Van Dijk was named Europe’s Footballer of the Year before a serious injury slowed his steep rise last year for the time being.
But long before van Dijk redefined defensive work in football, there were serious doubts about the Dutchman. When Liverpool struck, he was already 26 years old. Long before that, he had also played on the Champions League stage at Celtic Glasgow. But the English clubs hesitated, as David Moss said in conversation with SPOX and GOAL remind.
Van Dijk “like a grown man in a children’s playground”
Moss was head scout at the Scottish cult club when Celtic signed van Dijk in 2013. The green-whites transferred almost three million euros to FC Groningen. Van Dijk immediately became a regular player, played in the Champions League and a year later in the Europa League. Celtic knew exactly what sporting but also financial capital they had in the squad.
“Our player sales model was the only way to make money. We actively tried to sell players to the Premier League after two or three years. It was a success for us and for them,” said Moss. This is also the case with van Dijk, in whom there was lively interest but also doubts.
“When he was at Celtic I got calls from a lot of Premier League clubs. I said the same thing to everyone: ‘He’s like a grown man playing in a children’s playground – he’s noticeable like a sore thumb. Just take it right away under contract, don’t think about it, ‘”Moss looked back.
Top clubs doubted van Dijk’s qualities
The advantages and the overall package that van Dijk already offered were unmistakable. “He was quick, won all of his header duels, he couldn’t be beaten in one-on-one. He was able to play 60-meter passes with both feet and took the free kicks. But unbelievably, I heard excuses,” said Moss: “It was often about his performances in the Champions League or they said it didn’t mean anything in the Scottish League.”
After all, Southampton FC put more than 15 million euros on the table in 2015 to bring van Dijk into the Premier League. A detour for van Dijk’s career, but one that turned out to be spot on. According to Moss, this would not have been necessary at all.
“Everyone at Celtic believed in him completely, but some in football didn’t. In my view, he didn’t need the move to Southampton, he was ready to move straight to a Big Six club. They just weren’t brave enough to meet him to fetch, “says Moss. Southampton later rubbed their hands in the transfer. And Liverpool had found their X-factor on the defensive.
