Brendan Rodgers reportedly turned down the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk from
Liverpool were potentially embarrassed this week by revelations former boss Brendan Rodgers turned down an approach to sign Virgil van Dijk during his time at the club.
The current Celtic boss was not convinced by the then Glasgow based player, who ended up moving to Southampton.
Former Celtic assistant John Collins told beIN SPORTS: “Gary Mac was the assistant manager to Brendan, and I phoned Gary and said, ’I hope you are going to come and take Virgil’.
“Gary said he had mentioned him to Brendan. Brendan wasn’t sure if he was better than what they already had.”
Two years later Liverpool spent a whopping £75 million to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, who the Saints had signed for just £13 million.
Liverpool’s head of accounting won’t be too pleased with Brendan Rodgers right now- Rodgers could have saved Liverpool £62 million- but Reds fans shouldn’t be too annoyed.
The Reds have signed a better player in 2018 than they would have got in 2015.
They have a player who genuinely looks like of the best centre-backs in the world, one who is able to handle the pressure of being Liverpool’s main man at the back, and has almost single handedly turned their defensive record around.
He grew as a player at Southampton and adjusted to the Premier League.
Would he have been afforded the patience to do so at Liverpool, where the pressure is far greater?
The biggest loser here was Rodgers himself, who was sacked by Liverpool in October 2015, with a wretched defensive record one of the key reasons.
Sure, Liverpool ended up paying a whole lot more than they could have done for Van Dijk, but they have a superior version right now.
Brendan Rodgers might have done them a very expensive favour.
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