Liverpool and Arsenal turned down the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk when he was at Celtic, says John Collins.
Van Dijk was on the books of Celtic for two years from 2013 until 2015, when the defender moved to Premier League club Southampton for a transfer fee reported by The Scottish Sun to be worth £13 million.
Collins played for Celtic from 1990 until 1996 and was the assistant manager at the Glasgow giants from the summer of 2014 until the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
The former Scotland international midfielder has also revealed that he urged Liverpool to sign Van Dijk from Celtic.
However, Brendan Rodgers, who was then the Liverpool boss and is now in charge of Celtic, did not think that Van Dijk was better than the defenders he had at his disposal at Anfield at the time.
The 27-year-old Netherlands international central defender joined Liverpool from Premier League rivals Southampton in January 2018 for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £75 million.
Collins told beIN SPORTS: “Arsenal chief scout thought he was a little bit too nonchalant.
“Maybe that was part of his game, but he ticks so many other boxes. Pace, power, balance, distribution, good in the air.”
“Gary Mac was the assistant manager to Brendan, and I phoned Gary and said, ’I hope you are going to come and take Virgil’,” added Collins.
“Gary said he had mentioned him to Brendan. Brendan wasn’t sure if he was better than what they already had.”
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