John Collins is convinced that Virgil van Dijk is heading for the top of English football.
Liverpool may have been forced to end their interest in the former Celtic defender but there is no shortage of clubs keen to sign van Dijk with Chelsea and Manchester City at the front of the queue.
Celtic are likely to pick up a £5m bonus when the Dutchman is sold which is close to the sum spent on transfer fees last summer.
Last summer John Stones and David Luiz were sold for £50m with the eventual sale of van Dijk expected to be a new world record for a defender.
“I watched him at Celtic and then had the pleasure of working with Virgil for a season and coaching him,” Collins told the Evening Times.
“I recommended him to a lot of big clubs in England and they didn’t quite think he was ready, but a lot of teams have made bad judgements not taking him because Virgil is a class act.
“Southampton were the smart ones who went in and got him for buttons really – £12.5million. He has got the lot as far as I’m concerned.
“He has got pace, he has got power, he is good in the air but, most important for me, he is different class with his ball at his feet. He has got that composure, he carries the ball forward like a midfield player, he is never flustered.
“He is tailor-made for a big club as far as I am concerned.”
Celtic paid Groningen £2.5m for van Dijk in June 2013 with the defender quickly linked with a move to England after some sparkling displays.
Ronny Deila made a point of securing van Dijk for his first season as manager with the partnership alongside Jason Denayer one of the key features of Celtic’s 2014/15 title success before the Dutchman was sold to Southampton in August 2015.
