The towering central defender, who cost £2.6 million, was a gold strike for the Hoops.
The Hoops allowed David Turnbull, who failed to establish himself as a regular starter, to join Cardiff on a permanent deal, while Marco Tilio, Hyeok-kyu Kwon, and Mikey Johnston were sent out on loan. Celtic has a rich history of developing and selling talents for profit in recent years, as the likes of Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster, Odsonne Edouard, Jota, and Kristoffer Ajer have been bought and then sold on for more money. This January transfer happened without any of their key first-team performers being lost to clubs willing to pay a high price.
Virgil van Dijk, the current captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands, is another outstanding example of their incredible job in the transfer market, and the Hoops struck gold with him.
How much Celtic paid for Virgil van Dijk
In the summer of 2013, Neil Lennon moved quickly to broker a deal for the 21-year-old central defender to join Groningen of the Netherlands for an estimated £2.6 million.
The 6 foot 5 colossus made 47 appearances in all competitions during the 2013–14 season, including 36 in the Scottish Premiership and 6 in the Champions League, quickly establishing himself as a regular starter for the Northern Irish manager.
The next season, Van Dijk participated in an incredible 58 games in all competitions for the Hoops, contributing an impressive 10 goals and eight assists as a center-back.
How much Celtic sold Virgil van Dijk for
Lennon, therefore, hit the jackpot for Celtic with his swoop to sign the towering center-back in 2013, as he provided quality on the pitch and then earned the club a huge sum of money later on. Brendan Rodgers must now be looking at targets for the upcoming summer transfer window in the hopes that he can unearth the next van Dijk to earn the club millions in the future. Premier League side Southampton won the race to land the Dutch giant for a reported fee of £13m to bolster then-boss Ronald Koeman’s defensive options.
| Virgil van Dijk transfer history | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer | Year | Fee |
| Willem II to Groningen | 2010 | £0 |
| Groningen to Celtic | 2013 | £2.6m |
| Celtic to Southampton | 2015 | £13m |
| Southampton to Liverpool | 2018 | £75m |
| Valuations via BBC and Sky Sports | ||
As you can see in the table above, the monstrous defender later went on to join Premier League giants Liverpool for a whopping fee of £75m, which meant that the Saints also made a significant profit on him.
The 32-year-old ace has amassed 256 appearances for the Reds in all competitions since his move to Anfield in January 2018, and won the Champions League and the Premier League once each to date.
It seems unlikely that Liverpool will be able to sell him for a profit, given his age and the fee they paid for him, to continue the trend, but they have been rewarded with over 200 appearances and multiple major trophies won.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Leave a Reply