'We didn't sign him' - Neil Warnock's failed attempts to land Liverpool ace from Celtic

Recently departed Aberdeen boss Neil Warnock missed out on signing Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk from Celtic during his Crystal Palace days. The veteran tried to lure the centre-back to Selhurst Park before his switch to Southampton but couldn’t get a deal over the line in the end. 

The defender, who has made 66 caps for the Holland national team so far in his career, was on the books at Celtic Park from 2013 to 2015. The Hoops signed him from FC Groningen and he went on to make 115 appearances in all competitions, chipping in with 15 goals. 

Van Dijk, who is now 32-years-old, carried on his form at Southampton but his career path could have gone differently if Warnock had got his man. However, he later ended up at Liverpool and the rest is history. 

The ex-Celtic man has played 261 games for the Reds to date altogether and has scored 23 goals from the back. He has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup since moving to Merseyside. 

Never mind Jurgen Klopp, Van Dijk could have been working under Warnock. He said in April last year, with quotes via the Daily Record:  "Absolutely. Crystal Palace, right, Steve Parish, the chairman, everything was data based. And we don't sign players unless they are this, that and the other. We had a scout in Scotland tell us about a player, a good player, I won't tell you his name yet, a good player.

"We were looking for a centre half, I sent Ronnie Jepsen up to watch him, He played all right and Ronnie said 'he'll do for us, gaffer', so I told the chairman he's going to cost £3million, but he's a good player, good on the ball. I just thought it would be a formality. So the chairman said to me 'we don't think he's quick enough this player'.

"I said 'what do you mean he's not quick enough? He said it doesn't look like he can sprint. I said 'chairman, in all due respect, he doesn't have to sprint, he reads the game that well, he's always in front of everybody. That's ridiculous. But he (Parrish) said: ‘That's on the data’, or whatever you call it. We didn't sign him and this lad was called Van Dijk."

Van Dijk was a hit during his time at Celtic but they weren’t able to keep hold of him for longer than the two years he spent in Glasgow. He got his hands on the Scottish Premiership trophy twice though.