Former EPL Manager Reveals he Nearly Signed van Dijk from Celtic for Cut-Price Deal

Former Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock shared a fascinating story about a missed opportunity to sign Virgil van Dijk from Celtic for a mere £3 million, years before the Dutch defender’s rise to prominence at Liverpool.

Speaking on the “No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast,” Warnock recounted his attempt to bring Van Dijk to Selhurst Park during his tenure in 2014, a year before the Dutch defender departed Celtic for Southhampton.

At the time, Van Dijk was making waves in Scotland with Celtic, having joined the Glasgow club in 2013. Warnock, impressed by the defender’s performances, sent a scout to assess him.

The feedback was positive, with the scout affirming that Van Dijk would be a valuable addition to the team. Excited by this prospect, Warnock approached Crystal Palace’s chairman, Steve Parish, with the intention to secure Van Dijk for £3 million—a decision supported by the manager’s enthusiasm but ultimately overturned by the club’s analytics team.

Neil Warnock explained: “Van Dijk was at Celtic and I nearly signed him to Crystal Palace for £3million. When he was there I sent someone up to watch him play and he came back and said ‘he’ll do for us!’.

“I said to Steve Parish, who’s still at Palace now, and the stats man that I want to sign Van Dijk for three million pounds. Parish, as with many of the other chairmen, rely on the stats man and he was saying that he didn’t think he was quick enough for the Premier League.

“I told them why he doesn’t look quick, because he reads the game so well that he doesn’t have to break a sweat! I told them that if he was pushed in the Premier League, he’d sprint.

“We didn’t end up signing him and Southampton picked him up for four or five million and ended up getting 70 odd million for him when Liverpool signed him.

Despite Warnock’s efforts, the deal fell through, and Van Dijk subsequently moved to Southampton in 2015 for around £11 million.

His career skyrocketed at Southampton, leading to a high-profile transfer to Liverpool where he has since become one of the world’s leading defenders, helping the team clinch several major titles.

Warnock humorously recalled a later encounter with Van Dijk after the defender had joined Liverpool. “I remember when we played Liverpool next, Van Dijk came up to me and said, ‘you nearly signed me!’ – he knew all about it. I said to him, ‘they told me you weren’t quick, you’re not really quick, are you?’ – and then I ran away from him!”