Former Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock has revisited the time he and his scouting department passed up on the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk for £5million in 2014.
The Liverpool defender had the chance to move to the Premier League after a strong first season in Scotland with Celtic in 2013/14 where he made 47 appearances in all competitions and won his first Scottish Premiership title. At the same time, Warnock was returning to Selhurst Park for a second spell to manage the Eagles, who had recently parted ways with Tony Pulis after just under nine months in charge.
The 73-year-old, who retired from management at the end of last season, arrived at Palace in late August but still managed to make three signings after coming through the door, taking Zeki Fryers from Spurs, James McArthur from Wigan and bringing club legend Andy Johnson back on a short-term deal.
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Things didn’t go well for Warnock as he lasted just four months in the job following a poor run of form that saw Palace ending up in the bottom three at Christmas, but it might have all gone differently had he and his coaching staff not passed up on the deal to sign van Dijk.
Instead, the Dutchman stayed in Scotland for another year, winning another league title before signing a five-year contract with Southampton for around £13million. Then, after two and a half seasons and following heavy interest from Liverpool, he became a Red in January 2017, winning six trophies including Premier League and Champions League following his £75million arrival.
Speaking to the Mirror about the moment he turned down van Dijk, Warnock said: “The one that got away from me was Virgil van Dijk. I got offered him when I was at Crystal Palace for £5million. But my chief scout said he was too slow and he ended up at Southampton instead. It’s a shame because anything he may lack in pace, he makes up for ten-fold in his ability to read the game.”
But maybe Warnock still wouldn’t be keen to have van Dijk even if he was told at the time what he would accomplish later in his career. Back in 2018 while he was the manager of Cardiff City, Warnock told reporters he’d sooner have Sol Bamba in his side to deal with situations at the back over the second-most expensive defender of all time.
