Gus Poyet has revealed to talkSPORT he could have signed Virgil van Dijk for just €3million when he was manager of Brighton.
Only, the south coast club couldn’t afford it!
Van Dijk has proved to be worth every penny of the £75million Liverpool paid for him in January 2018, with the Netherlands international recently crowned the PFA Player of the Year.
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Van Dijk has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world
He arrived at Anfield from Southampton, who signed the commanding centre-back from Scottish champions Celtic in 2015 for £13m – but it appears he may have arrived in England much earlier in his career had Brighton boasted a bigger budget.
Then in the Championship, ex-Seagulls boss Gus Poyet travelled to the Netherlands to watch Van Dijk in action, and he liked what he saw.
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Speaking on Wednesday’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Poyet said: “I went to see Van Dijk at Groningen when I was coach at Brighton.
“We went all the way up to Groningen to watch the game, and it was too easy for him. He was already incredible.
“After ten minutes you could see that he was bigger than everyone, more powerful than everyone and so calm on the ball.
“We watched the whole game and afterwards we talked to the chairman and we started getting in contact with the club and the agents, but he was too expensive for Brighton. He was €3million at that time!â€
“Brighton had just come into the Championship, although a year later we spent €3m on a striker, Leonardo Ulloa, but for a defender at that time it was impossible.”
Instead, he joined Celtic for the same fee, paving the way for his eventual move to Anfield where he has quickly become a Kop hero.
Van Dijk has made a stunning impact on the Liverpool back-four and has been one of the key reasons why they are up there with Manchester City challenging for the Premier League title.
The Reds have conceded just 20 goals in the Premier League this season – the fewest of any team in the top flight.
And he will be hoping to help Liverpool keep another clean sheet when they take on Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night – with LIVE talkSPORT commentary from the Nou Camp.
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