Scout now expects van Dijk to leave soon

A KEY member of Celtic’s scouting set-up has admitted Virgil van Dijk is likely to be sold before the end of the transfer window. David Moss, who is the assistant chief scout with the Scottish champions, told a sports business conference yesterday that the towering Dutchman ‘will probably be sold in the coming weeks’. Ronny Deila hopes to hang on to van Dijk for as long as possible despite being a £10million transfer target for both Everton and Southampton. But speaking about Celtic’s standing in world football, Moss said: ‘We do not receive the £80-£100m Premier

League clubs receive each year from Sky/BT in comparison to the approximate £2.5m Celtic receive. ‘We therefore cannot compete for players playing in the Premier League and even majority of the Championship clubs. We therefore operate in a high-risk market as we cannot afford the “readymade” players and need to identify young and “unproven” players. ‘In recent seasons, however, we have done rather well working to this strategy with goalkeeper Fraser Forster, midfielder Victor Wanyama and Striker Gary Hooper selling for £10m, £12m and £6m respectively. All these players were bought for under £2.5m. ‘Central Defender Virgil van Dijk will also probably be sold for in excess of these figures in the coming weeks.’ Despite Deila’s insistence that van Dijk would stay, Celtic have been making plans to fill the sizeable gap his departure would leave in their defence. Chief executive Peter Lawwell returned from Croatia yesterday following meetings with Dinamo Zagreb as he pursues the £4m-rated Jozo Simunovic. Sportsmail first reported the interest on Saturday and Zagreb boss Zoran Mamic has confirmed they have turned down Celtic’s initial offer. ‘Yes, yesterday we refused Celtic,’ he said. ‘I’m glad Jozo is staying with us. His price and quality will grow greater still.’ One additional option could see Jason Denayer returning after his agent admitted the former Celtic loan star could leave Manchester City if they sign Nicolas Otamendi. Celtic would face competition in any attempt to bring Denayer back to Parkhead for a second loan spell, but the door may be opened should Otamendi join from Valencia. ‘Jason was not in the selection against Chelsea (last Sunday) but that was no surprise to us,’ agent Jason De Preter said. ‘But if City gets a defender, that’s it. They had promised us that no more defenders of that calibre would come. That does worry me.’ Celtic may also use the healthy relationship they have with City by bringing England Under-19 winger Brandon Barker on loan.