In an interview with talkSPORT, Warnock revealed that Van Dijk was on his shortlist when looking for players to strengthen Palace’s squad ahead of the 2014/15 season.”It was difficult recruiting players when I was at Palace,” Warnock said in 2017. “We approached Celtic centre-back Van Dijk and they wanted £6m. I said, “Can’t we buy this?
The head scout looked at him and said, ‘He’s not that fast. It’s Scottish football.” “That was before he was signed by Southampton.”It is difficult to assess how true Warnock’s claims are. Palace’s only centre-back signing that summer was Brede Hangeland (not known for his pace), who had arrived on a free transfer from Fulham, and the deal was completed before Warnock arrived on 27 August. The former Sheffield United and QPR manager was sacked ahead of the January transfer window, leaving the Eagles in the relegation zone. And Van Dijk stayed at Celtic for the 2014/15 Scottish Premiership title win before moving to Southampton for £13m the following summer. He spent two and a half years at Saints before moving to Liverpool for £75m and the rest, of course, is history.
The 2019 UEFA Player of the Year is not only the Red’s 2023 Premier League Player of the Year, but also has the highest aerial strike percentage (77.1%) in Europe’s Big 5 competitions.
Virgil van Dijk is Liverpool’s captain and the best defender of his generation. But if former Premier League managers had their way, his path to the top would have been little different. Veteran manager Neil Warnock has revealed he is close to a move for the Netherlands international ahead of his first Premier League move from Southampton.
