Celtic linked with Virgil Van Dijk in the tabloids today. He’s a 21 year old Dutch defender who plays for Groningen and has a handful of Dutch under 21 caps. He’s 6"4’ and already has over 50 Eredivisie appearances which is decent experience for a guy his age.
Only one week to go until the draw for our first CL qualifying game!
[quote=“Rocko, post: 787804, member: 1”]Celtic linked with Virgil Van Dijk in the tabloids today. He’s a 21 year old Dutch defender who plays for Groningen and has a handful of Dutch under 21 caps. He’s 6"4’ and already has over 50 Eredivisie appearances which is decent experience for a guy his age.
Only one week to go until the draw for our first CL qualifying game![/quote]
Dutch media are saying they want 4m Euros for him and we’ve had 2 bids rejected. Can’t see us going as high as 4m for him, though maybe with a string of conditions.
I haven’t had an opportunity to review him on youtube or to ask our resident Eredivisie expert Bandage what he makes of him. Nevertheless I’m impressed by his photo. He looks as tall as Wikipedia says he is and he strikes me as an elegant ball playing Dutch centre back who can also mix the physical stuff. A Bert Konterman type maybe.
Saw him play against Feynoord last season and he stood out. looked to be their best player that game.
That’s enough for me. Let’s go get him.
Reports in the Netherlands that we have increased our bid for Van Dijk by €1m. He has a couple of quotes in De Telegraaf: “Celtic is a fantastic club and a step up for me. Now I must wait for thte two clubs to agree.”
The Daily Record are alson linking us with a Congolese Evian centre back named Cédric Mongongu. He’s 23 and has a lot of games for Monaco and Evian in Ligue Un. Lennon was at the French Cup Final this season, and Evian were playing in that but Mongongu didn’t feature.
The thing that would worry me about Van Dijk is that he’s not even in the Dutch u-21 squad and Martins Indi who is a starter in that team team is a bombscare.
Politics mate. While Bandage has resigned as the Eredivise expert he privately told me today that he rates Van Dijk quite highly. That tallies with other respected opinions I’ve read on him.
Hope so, he seems to have a good physique about him - tall and strapping, yet lean.
Celtic return to pre-season training tomorrow. 
The fairly reliable Celtic Underground say we’re engaging in a game of chicken with the Dutch side over van Dijk. They want more money and we’ve baulked at it. Hopefully nobody else will nip in and offer the asking price while we’re holding out.
Talk on Dutch media that Virgil is flying to Glasgow tomorrow to finalise deal. Really hope this one goes through. When was the last time we bought a centre back with any sort of semi-decent reputation? Valgaeren or someone.
Well, that’s much more encouraging than what I just posted.
[FONT=Calibri]Virgil van Dijk is in Glasgow for signing talks. He’s a right-sided centre back and he’s commanding, strong and tall but mobile too. He likes a tackle and he’s accomplished playing the ball out of defence. Kelvin Wilson prefers playing on the left so I can see this being the main defensive partnership. He will be a tremendous signing for Celtic.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri] [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]The new home jersey is an abomination. The hoops are comprised of seven green lines to match up with the Magner’s logo but they’re selling it as a tribute to Celtic’s great number 7s. [/FONT]
Lovely stuff.
What else is on the agenda now lads in terms of strengthening?
I’d like another centre back and a left back, a winger, a versatile attacker, a holding midfielder and creative midfielder and replacements for the likes of Wanyama/Kayal etc if they leave - not that there is anything to suggest that Kayal would leave.
I really liked the look of that South African midfielder who plays in Belgium that we were linked with a while a while ago.
[SIZE=3][FONT=verdana]Informative STV article on van Dijk. The signing has yet to be confirmed though.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=6]Who is Virgil van Dijk and what will he bring to the Celtic team?[/SIZE]
By Peter McVitie 20 June 2013 18:15 BST
Virgil van Dijk touched down in Glasgow on Thursday to complete a move to Celtic.SNS Group
Arriving in Glasgow to finalise his transfer to Celtic, Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk spoke of his excitement of joining the Scottish champions.
But the 21-year-old isn’t the only one who should be excited about the prospect of playing for the Glasgow club. The manager, players and fans should all be overjoyed that such a highly rated young player with great potential will be sporting the green and white hoops next season.
Following the departures of Thomas Rogne and Rami Gershon, Celtic were in need of a commanding centre-back to further enhance the backline. Van Dijk is the perfect acquisition to do so.
A transfer fee is yet to be revealed but it is understood that the Scottish giants will get him for less than the £3.5m that Groningen initially demanded.
The move suits both parties incredibly well. Celtic gain a strong central defender, who is younger and better than both Rogne and Gershon, for an absolute bargain and will likely be sold on for a profit. For the player, it is a chance to play in Europe and develop even further.
Van Dijk has already represented the Netherlands at Under 19 and Under 21 level and is seen as a future senior international. He was unlucky to miss out on a place in the Under 21 team which competed in the European Championship in Israel this summer, but his potential is obvious and his talent undeniable.
In his own words, as he told STV Sport, Van Dijk is “a defender who likes to play football”. He is tall, well-built, good in the air and very strong but, despite his height and build, he is capable of bursting forward, has great passing ability, skill and possesses good pace.
Crucially, though, he is still improving and learning. The 21-year-old will experience a different style in Scotland than that which he is used to in Holland, giving him the chance to improve other aspects of his game, while Champions League or Europa League nights will see him pitted against a better calibre of striker.
With his strong tackling and technical ability, he will strengthen the Celtic defence immensely while kick-starting attacks from the back, allowing Lennon’s men to break forward with speed and play attractive football. He is an intelligent player who can even deliver a good cross when he bursts forward.
When assessing the quality of defenders in the Eredivisie earlier this season, Feyenoord’s 27-goal star striker Graziano Pelle said he felt that “van Dijk is head and shoulders above the rest,” adding that “he is very strong in one-on-one situations.”
The Italian frontman’s words were a huge compliment to a young defender in a league which consists of highly rated defenders such as Toby Alderweireld, Stefan de Vrij, Mike van der Hoorn and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw.
Ajax coach Frank de Boer has also been full of praise for him in recent times, declining to enter the race for the player only because he wanted to bring through a defender from the youth system instead.
“Virgil van Dijk has all the qualities of a central defender,” he said. “He’s big, strong and has footballing ability. He’s one to keep an eye on.”
It has been fairly obvious throughout the last 12 months that the 6ft 4in defender has outgrown Groningen, despite his age. Overall, the 2012/13 campaign was a rather dismal one for the team from the north of Holland as the majority of it was spent in the lower half of the table. with relegation looking like a possibility at various points.
Robert Maaskant’s side managed to claw their way back up the table, though, and 21-year-old van Dijk was crucial to their fight as they finished the campaign in seventh place, booking a place in the Europa League play-offs, where they crashed out in the semi-final.
Throughout the season a move away from the Dutch side this summer seemed inevitable. Brighton & Hove Albion had seen an ambitious offer rejected during the campaign and the 21-year-old remained in the Euroborg to further his development in a league which is widely regarded as the best training division in the world.
After the defeat to Twente in the playoff, van Dijk revealed that Dutch giants PSV had made contact with his representatives, but the Eindhoven side later dropped out of the race to sign him.
Upon arriving in Glasgow, he insisted that various clubs in England and across Europe had come in for him but he opted to join Neil Lennon’s side, which says a lot about his respect for the club and his desire to improve in the correct manner.
In joining Celtic, van Dijk will be with a club which will give him support, European football and everything he needs to develop and grow properly.
In signing van Dijk, Celtic get a hard working, talented, well rounded defender with great potential and sell-on value for a very good price. Overall, it’s the perfect match.
Peter McVitie is a freelance football journalist specialising in Dutch football. You can follow him on Twitter [U]@PeterMcVitie[/U].
“Celtic are delighted to announce that Dutch U21 internationalist Virgil van Dijk has signed a 4-year deal with the Scottish champions.”
Virgil is the 9th Dutchman to sign for Celtic.
Who can name the other 8?
[quote=“chewy louie, post: 789797, member: 1137”]Virgil is the 9th Dutchman to sign for Celtic.
Who can name the other 8?[/quote]
[FONT=Calibri]The great Edson Braafheid is my favourite by a distance. Others off the top of my head include Big Pierre, Glenn Loovens, Regi Blinker, Bobby Petta, Evander Sno and now I’m stuck.[/FONT]
I don’t know the answer just saw the reference to him being the 9th on twitter.
JVOH is another
That would be 8.