When Virgil van Dijk made his Celtic debut aged 23, few could have imagined that he would become one of the best defenders of his generation.
This is especially the case given how his Celtic career started, as has been recalled by Charlie Mulgrew.
The Dutchman was brought to Glasgow from Groningen, having been extensively scouted by Neil Lennon and Johan Mjallby.
He joined a Celtic team which had just reached the knockout rounds of the Champions League the season prior, beating one of the best Barcelona teams ever on the way.
But when qualifying again the following season, one rough night led to van Dijk watching Efe Ambrose from the bench – and in fairness to Lennon, it worked.
When Celtic played Efe Ambrose ahead of Virgil van Dijk
Van Dijk came to Celtic to fill a gap that had been left in the centre-back spot by Kelvin Wilson.
Wilson was a handy player for Lennon’s side, but it’s fair to say that van Dijk went on to surpass his career.
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Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Mulgrew recalled the story from van Dijk’s early days in Glasgow.
He said: “When he first came in, you could see straight away that he’s unbelievable. But one of his first games was a Champions League qualifier in Kazakhstan, funnily enough.
“We got beat 2-0, and he got dropped for the home leg. Lustig and Ambrose played in the home leg and we won 3-2. What I’m trying to say is, Efe Ambrose is a better player than Virgil van Dijk!
“No, what I’m saying is that it’s amazing how he gets dropped for that game, learns quickly because Lennon said he got outmuscled a bit in that game, from long throws into the box. But what a player to play with.”
He hasn’t been dropped many times since, so Efe can wear that as a badge of honour.
Could Celtic make a signing like Virgil van Dijk today?
It’s been 12 years since the Hoops pulled off the signing of van Dijk, and a fair few more centre halves have come through the door in the period since.
The story goes that Celtic beat Ajax to his signature, thanks to Lennon and Mjallby’s desperation to get the deal done.
With advancements in scouting resources throughout football since then, it’s difficult to imagine the club pulling off something similar today.
You’d imagine that Brendan Rodgers would be a touch more likely to stay if another van Dijk could come through the club’s scouting system.
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