Neil Lennon couldn't believe he didn't have clubs queuing out the door to sign Virgil Van Dijk at Celtic - as he didn't see any vulnerability in the defender.
Van Dijk was back playing competitively in Glasgow for the first time since leaving Parkhead this week in a convincing 7-1 Champions League win over former rivals Rangers on Liverpool duty midweek. He joined Southampton from Celtic in 2015 and the Reds snapped him up from there in 2018, making him the world's most expensive defender at £75 million.
Groningen is where Lennon and the Hoops picked the Dutchman from and by the time interest beckoned to take him onto his next step, Van Dijk's former manager was shocked to see some reluctance. He was so sure of his potential he though La Liga's big guns were going to come calling. The Omonia Nicosia boss said: "Before Virgil went to Southampton I went to a couple of big clubs and asked them, 'What are you waiting for?'
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"They said they weren't sure, I said fine. He went to Southampton and the rest is history. "The first time I saw him live I kept looking around to see if there were other scouts around.
"This kid was a Rio Ferdinand - and has kicked on. "When I was watching him on video I thought he must have a glass eye or something.
"It's because he had no weaknesses. I thought he'd end up playing at Barcelona or Real Madrid."
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