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Saints Go Double Dutch


pluto

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Van Dijk looks like a pretty accomplished cb up in Scotland. My only reserve would be whether he can make the step up but there's no doubt he has the potential to do so. I'd be very happy with these two coming in, although if I was being ungrateful i'd rather we signed Van Beek.

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Van Dijk looks like a pretty accomplished cb up in Scotland. My only reserve would be whether he can make the step up but there's no doubt he has the potential to do so. I'd be very happy with these two coming in, although if I was being ungrateful i'd rather we signed Van Beek.

 

Are we limiting our search for a new CB to only Van's? Shameful if true tbh

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Van Dijk is a terrific player who I have watched a lot, imo better or certainly as good as Toby. A couple of things, firstly celtic are not needing or wanting to sell him and secondly we would need to pay big money to get him. Norwich have been sniffing around for a few weeks but rumour is there bids of around 8mill have been laughed out, also several overseas clubs are interested. Apart from being a great centre back who is excellent in the air he has a wicked free kick on him. Scores a good few goals from freekicks around the box.

If we signed Van Dijk and Classie I would definately fancy us for another excellent season.

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Van Dijk is a terrific player who I have watched a lot, imo better or certainly as good as Toby. A couple of things, firstly celtic are not needing or wanting to sell him and secondly we would need to pay big money to get him. Norwich have been sniffing around for a few weeks but rumour is there bids of around 8mill have been laughed out, also several overseas clubs are interested. Apart from being a great centre back who is excellent in the air he has a wicked free kick on him. Scores a good few goals from freekicks around the box.

If we signed Van Dijk and Classie I would definately fancy us for another excellent season.

 

They wouldn't get laughed at for 8 million imo. 10-12 and they will sell.

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Mickey has a contact in the club so pretty good I would have thought.

 

I'm in Orlando at the moment and managed to grab a quick word with Pluto whilst getting my photo taken with him. he's adamant this deal will go through.

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Van Dijk is a terrific player who I have watched a lot, imo better or certainly as good as Toby. A couple of things, firstly celtic are not needing or wanting to sell him and secondly we would need to pay big money to get him. Norwich have been sniffing around for a few weeks but rumour is there bids of around 8mill have been laughed out, also several overseas clubs are interested. Apart from being a great centre back who is excellent in the air he has a wicked free kick on him. Scores a good few goals from freekicks around the box.

If we signed Van Dijk and Classie I would definately fancy us for another excellent season.

 

Cheers for that. When a poster who's been on here for 9 years and only posted 700-odd posts, its worth listening to what they say. What is Van Dijks injury record like? Toby seemed a bit prone to hamstring problems.

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A search for "Van Dijk Pelle" threw up this quote, I couldn't find anything else:

 

"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."

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If we do go for van Dijk hopefully its before he has cup tied himself in Europe!

He won't be playing for Celtic Wednesday, whatever, as he's got a misconduct suspension.

Edited by Nolan
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He'll do.

 

No idea if he can defend, but our formation would certainly benefit from a CB who is prepared to take the ball forward when space allows. He appears to be a good passer, and obviously strikes a brilliant free kick. Could definitely see him linking well with someone like Clasie to increase our tempo building from the back (which could be incredibly slow at times last season).

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No idea if he can defend, but our formation would certainly benefit from a CB who is prepared to take the ball forward when space allows. He appears to be a good passer, and obviously strikes a brilliant free kick. Could definitely see him linking well with someone like Clasie to increase our tempo building from the back (which could be incredibly slow at times last season).

 

I agree. Attack is the best form of defence.

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It would be nice if we managed to sign him. Looking at the youtube clip (yes I know, youtube should be taken with a pinch of salt) posted by bjk it strikes me that he maybe a player he would be interested in playing a bit further up the field from CB, he certainly seems to like to get forward.

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Ronny Delia certainly talks Virgil up...

 

Celtic may be the most minor market players but they have proved pretty successful in spinning transfer gold from yarn. Aiden McGeady was a home-spun £10m. Asset management allowed them to earn an £11m profit on Victor Wanyama. Goalkeeper Fraser Forster raked in £10m for a £2m outlay while Gary Hooper was a double-your-money striker courtesy of a 
£5m sale.

 

Van Dijk is the only current Celtic player that the club could be confident of attracting bids beyond £5m, with a fee closer to £10m the expectation when set against the sums banked for recently traded playing jewels.

 

Yet, Celtic must also guard against the defender becoming disaffected and losing his focus. Deila has no fears over that happening as Celtic set out to surmount three qualifying hurdles and get over the line in the pursuit of a place in the Champions League group stages.

 

If Celtic unlock the £20m bounty that comes with joining the European elite, the purpose of retaining Van Dijk will have been served. Of course, missing out on such a windfall would make his sale attractive to balancing the books too, but Van Dijk could potentially have better suitors if he shows up well in continental competition over the next two months. It is a stage wherein he hasn’t entirely convinced, and his manager 
acknowledges that.

 

However, Deila believes ultimately that the player could perform on any stage and to jump at offers from clubs like Norwich City or Southampton would be to sell himself short.

 

“I speak a lot to Virgil. I have control of the situation,” said Deila. “He knows what I want and how we are going to do things. I also know what he is thinking. Virgil is looking forward to the season with Celtic and he is going to stay here for the qualifiers. That is so important and I hope he will be able to play good football in the group stages too and he can show himself the player everyone sees in Scotland.

 

“He’s a top player and, if he should sign for somebody, it should be a big, big club. It should be a club that should be challenging to win the Champions League. That’s the standard we look for. If not, he should stay.”

 

Deila believes Van Dijk could prosper at a club like Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Chelsea. “He would need time to adapt but he can be up there with the best players in the world,” said Deila. “I haven’t coached the best players in the world and there are many coaches who say they have a player who can play for Celtic and they can’t. But Jason Denayer now plays for the Belgian national team and if he plays for Man City and Virgil shows in two years that he is playing in Barcelona, or wherever, then it gives us references that what I’m saying is right. I believe he has that ability.”

 

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/virgil-van-dijk-and-celtic-can-prosper-together-1-3811916

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Celtic may have won the SPL, and that sounds good until you realise Inverness came third with a budget the same as your average league 1 club. There is no way a club like Barcelona. Bayern or Chelsea would take him straight from the SPL. He'd need to prove himself in a top league with a smaller club first.

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Celtic may have won the SPL, and that sounds good until you realise Inverness came third with a budget the same as your average league 1 club. There is no way a club like Barcelona. Bayern or Chelsea would take him straight from the SPL. He'd need to prove himself in a top league with a smaller club first.

 

Yep, true. Can't blame Delia for talking his player up though.

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