Rogic's Celtic success means more to John Park than Van Dijk's achievements

By John Reid

November 3, 2020

Former Celtic talent scout John Park claims that Tom Rogic’s trophy-laden career with the Hoops means more to him than Virgil Van Dijk’s achievements, the Scottish Sun reports.

Park, who was a key man in scouting perspective Celtic signings for years, played a part in bringing both Rogic and Van Dijk to Celtic.

“Can achieve much more”

“I’m delighted to see Rogic back fit again and playing his part for Celtic. He’s only 27 and can achieve much more” Park said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.

“Of course, it’s great seeing the likes of Virgil Van Dijk become top players too. In some respects it’s even better when it’s a younger lad, like Rogic was when he joined Celtic, rising to the top” Park went on.

“Adam Matthews is another I take a lot of satisfaction from. He came in from Cardiff as an 18-year-old and cost only £180,000 in compensation. He had played just 42 times at Cardiff. But he also proved a top player for Celtic” Park concluded.

Not guaranteed player would go on to Hoops success

It is easy to see why the success of Rogic and Adam Matthews would mean a lot to Park. After all, it was not guaranteed that Rogic and Matthews would go on to have the careers that they did.

Celtic star Tom Rogic in action against Aberdeen / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

That wasn’t the case with Van Dijk. He was always going to be a big player in the game. The Hoops signed the player for just £1.74m Neil Lennon told Sky Sports, and of course he ended up joining Liverpool from Southampton for a World record fee of £75m. Since then, he has led Liverpool to both Champions League and Premier League glory.

You can’t tell what players are going to be a success at clubs. There was no guarantee that Rogic would be a key man for Celtic when he joined up with the Hoops back in 2013. Seven years on, his mercurial skills look like they will be vital to Celtic’s bid to win 10 in a row.

In other news, Kris Commons has finally praised Celtic.