EPL CYNICS WRONG TO TURN NOSE UP AT VIRGIL
Lennon still can’t believe English snobs turned nose up at van Dijk
NEIL LENNON has blasted the snobs who turned their noses up at Virgil van Dijk in his Celtic days.
Liverpool’s £75million defender is set to face Real Madrid in the Champions League Final but top English clubs didn’t fancy him in Scotland.
Ex-Hoops boss Lennon said: “It was so apparent he was going to be an absolute superstar but they used to cast doubt over Henrik Larsson too.”
MEMORIES of a Liverpool victory in the Champions League will be priceless for Anfield fans but Neil Lennon still reckons they could have saved £60million.
The Hibs boss admits he’s astonished no top English side came to the table with a bid for Virgil van Dijk when he was at the heart of the Celtic defence.
Lennon insists it was a symbol of their disdain for Scottish football as a breeding ground for talent with the ability to cut it at the very top.
The Dutch defender will be handed a pivotal role against Real Madrid in Kiev on Saturday as he bids to put the shackles on Cristiano Ronaldo and lead Liverpool to their sixth European Cup triumph.
Van Dijk’s climb to the pinnacle is no surprise to those who have worked closest with the 26-year-old since he first emerged at Willem II.
He later moved to Groningen and it was there he first caught the eye of then-Celtic manager Lennon. He couldn’t believe the potential in a kid who had been capped at Under-21 level but suitors from the bigger nations were thin on the ground.
Celtic paid £2.3m for van Dijk in 2013, moved him on to Southampton for £13m in 2015 then picked up a 10 per cent cut of his £75m move to Anfield, a world record for a defender.
Lennon said: “It’s embarrassing. I received phone calls from big clubs about van Dijk on a number of occasions and could not believe what they were waiting on. It was an absolute no-brainer but because of this ‘playing in Scotland’ nonsense … “It was so apparent from day one the guy was going to be an absolute superstar but they used to cast doubt over Henrik Larsson and he went on to Barcelona eventually.
“There are loads of players here who can play in England and have a really good career. Maybe the perception of the Scottish game has cost them. It has certainly cost Liverpool a lot of money but, in the end, it’s probably cash well spent.
“However, they could have
had him for £10-£12m three or four years ago.
“Big club scouts rang me and I said, ‘What are you waiting on?’ Some of the answers I got back were absolutely baffling.
“He has made Liverpool better. He has been the missing link really. Defensively they are a lot sounder now, to the point Manchester City only scored once against them over two games in the quarter-final.”
Former Celtic chief scout John Park concluded the deal for van Dijk because chief executive Peter Lawwell was on holiday and fretted about signing off on a salary package that didn’t even amount to five figures a week.
It was the price of a Ford and Lennon knew from the moment he set eyes on the stopper he epitomised class in a quality casing. Lennon, now boss at Hibs, added: “Virgil was a RollsRoyce, capable of going through the gears when he wanted.
“Technically, he was unbelievable. When I saw him playing for Groningen he used to bring the ball out of defence and hit a pass 50 yards on a sixpence to their winger.
“He was attacking the ball in both boxes and I thought, ‘There must be English Premiership scouts watching.’ In the end, we got him for just over two million Euros.
“I couldn’t believe my luck. On his first day I said, ‘Look, enjoy yourself here, you’ll not be here long.’ He was that good.
“He was one of the steals of the century. I did see him make a mistake once, when I watched him against Ajax, but you only needed to see him 10 minutes and you knew he was a player.
“He’s now captain of his country. You just wonder what they were thinking about.”
Lennon still scratches his head in disbelief at being given a free run. He signed a defensive Colossus but wondered if he was missing something and signing a Cyclops.
He added: “I thought at first there must be something wrong with him. Did he have one eye or something? Did he have something missing?
“I was surprised how long he stayed at Celtic. Liverpool have won a watch. Yes, it turned out to be an expensive one but still a watch they could afford.
“It’s half the money they got from Barcelona for Coutinho and Liverpool are in the Champions League Final.
“He’s halfway to paying his transfer fee back already. Win this final and it might just cover it completely.”