Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Virgil Van Dijk Urged To Ignore Newcastle Interest

10 years ago
Share

After reported interest from Newcastle, amongst others, Celtic boss Peter Lawwell has urged star player Virgil Van Dijk to stay at least another year at Celtic.

The Chief Executive has also pointed out involvement in the Champions League as a big hook to tempt the 22 year old central defender into staying for another season.

Van Dijk has been a big hit since arriving from Dutch side Groningen only last summer, costing a bargain £2.5m.

Playing in the heart of the defence, the Dutch under 21 defender was a big reason as to why Celtic only conceded 25 goals in 38 league matches last season, the Dutchman also scoring five goals.

This is what Lawwell had to say as he desperately tries to keep one of their star assets;

“My view is one year is far too early for him and he needs another year in the Champions League.

“I have spoken to Virgil’s agent and we don’t want to sell him. We’ve a manager who I think will make him, and all our players, better.

“If I was advising him I’d be saying ‘Forget this year and let’s stay & develop.”

As always in Scotland, Celtic may be able to offer Champions League football almost every season but long-term, real quality players won’t be satisfied with the low quality of the Scottish league.

Interestingly, when looking into the player’s background, I noticed Van Dijk was one of countless [intlink id=”12982″ type=”post”]players Newcastle were linked with two summers ago[/intlink].

You know, just after United finished fifth and Alan Pardew said we were definitely going to sign a commanding centre-back who would also bring us goals…

While in [intlink id=”13301″ type=”post”]another article by contributor Alan Stuart[/intlink], he raved about Virgil Van Dijk’s performance when he was invited along to the Celtic match where they did so well against Barcelona.

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks