Why Man United turned down the chance to sign Liverpool man Virgil van Dijk for just £10m – revealed

Why Man United turned down the chance to sign Liverpool man Virgil van Dijk for just £10m – revealed

Former Chelsea star Pat Nevin revealed why the Blues and Manchester United passed up a chance to sign Virgil van Dijk from Celtic.

Chelsea and United were offered a chance to sign van Dijk for just £10million ($12m) when the Dutchman was playing for Celtic.

However, the Premier League giants rejected the opportunity as they were unsure of the player’s quality at that time, as per ex-Scotland international Nevin

WHAT PAT NEVIN SAID
Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, the 61-year-old said: “When it comes to Premier League clubs being unsure over signing players from Scotland, I remember being told by Manchester United and Chelsea that Virgil van Dijk made too many mistakes – but that’s because he was bored.

“Can you imagine how different things might have been if David Moyes had signed Virgil van Dijk?

He ended up at Southampton and then Liverpool but teams didn’t want to pay the £10 million when he was at Celtic. Big money moves from Scotland to England are rare because teams are sceptical.”

Van Dijk spent two years in Scotland before moving to England in 2015 where he first signed for Southampton and then moved to Liverpool in January 2018.

At Anfield, the Dutchman established himself as one of the best defenders in the world and won every major trophy on offer with the Reds.

In the 2018-19 season, Van Dijk was named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year as he beat stalwarts like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to bag the award