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Jamie Carragher suggest he got it wrong about what he thought about Virgil van Dijk at Celtic

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Virgil van Dijk left Celtic in 2015 for Southampton before he made his huge £75m move to Liverpool.

The big Dutch defender won two league titles and a League Cup at Celtic as well as impressing on the continent in the Champions League.

Van Dijk strolled it at Celtic and made 115 appearances scoring 15 goals as he caught the eye of Southampton who made the Dutchman one of Celtic’s most expensive transfer sales at £11.5m.

However, two-and-a-half season’s later, van Dijk made his £75m to Liverpool but it was at Celtic where Jamie Carragher remembers him and here, he seems to suggest he got his first impression all wrong about the Champions League winner.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Celtic - The William Hill Scottish Cup Semi Final
Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Jamie Carragher says people didn’t ‘want to take a chance’ on Virgil van Dijk at Celtic

Carragher is a legend at Liverpool and is a huge fan of van Dijk at Anfield however when he was at Celtic, the Sky Sports pundit admits he wasn’t that impressed as he appears to suggest he got it all wrong.

Carragher told Stick to Football, “I remember going to a game, Celtic v Ajax in the Champions League in 2013/14.

“I didn’t really know too much about van Dijk. And I think Steve Bruce might have been manager of Hull or someone near them. And there was a few people watching van Dijk, and I watched him in the game.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh, they should have signed him’. He almost looked too big, at that time. Do you know what I mean?

“So you’re thinking, ‘Can he move? Because he almost played that cool and that sort of slow motion.

“And teams were watching him, and obviously just didn’t want to take a chance.”

Virgil van Dijk’s all-time career appearances including successes at Celtic and Liverpool

Van Dijk is widely regarded as the world’s best central defender after all of his achievements for club and country.

With 80 caps for the Netherlands, van Dijk’s international career weirdly only began immediately after his move to Southampton.

So how has his career fared before, during and after his time at Celtic?

Virgil van DijkPlayedGoalsAssists
Groningen6675
Celtic115157
Southampton8070
Liverpool3152713
Netherlands809n/a

After signing a new deal at Liverpool, the 33-year-old defender is set to continue his impressive career as Celtic fan track their former favourite player.