Celtic brought Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk to the Scottish Premiership in 2013 but Van der Hoorn could have been signed instead.
Former Celtic scout John Park has admitted the Scottish Premiership giants were looking to sign Mike Van der Hoorn before turning their attention to Virgil van Dijk, as reported by the Daily Record.
Few had heard of the 21-year-old Van Dijk when he arrived in Glasgow in the summer of 2013, joining from Eredivisie outfit Groningen for a fee of £2.6 million, according to the BBC.
Six years on, the Dutch defender is arguably the best centre-back in world football, having transformed Liverpool into genuine Premier League title challengers after arriving at Anfield from Southampton 14 months ago.
But Van Dijk might never have got his big break if Celtic had chosen fellow Dutchman Van der Hoorn instead.
“I will be honest and admit that at that time we were comparing him with Mike van der Hoorn who would eventually move to Swansea from Ajax,” Park told the Daily Record.
“Mike was at Utrecht at that time and we were doing comparisons with the pair of them. (But) we just felt Virgil was pound for pound miles better in terms of projecting him forward.”
While Van Dijk is the most expensive defender in football history, Van der Hoorn is playing in the Championship with Swansea City these days.
The 26-year-old has become a key player at the Liberty Stadium since he arrived in South Wales in 2016 and the Sun claim that he is now valued at £10 million.
Although it is fair to say Celtic chose the right man in Van Dijk.
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