Virgil van Dijk has won a fans poll to find the best centre-half since Celtic’s Centenary season.
The Dutchman edged out Bobo Balde with both men well clear of Paul Elliott in third spot.
Van Dijk enjoyed two outstanding seasons at Celtic and now joins Artur Boruc, Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney in the best Celtic XI since 1988.
Celtic paid Groningen £2m for the defender in 2013 then sold him on to Southampton for £10m with a further fee expected from the sell-on fee with the Dutchman expected to be on the move from the south coast in the January transfer window.
This season is the 30th anniversary of the famous Centenary season when Billy McNeill’s side won a dramatic double despite the big spending of Graeme Souness at Ibrox.
No one could have guessed that it would be a decade before Celtic celebrated another title success while the prospect six or seven successive titles was a pipe-dream in the early nineties.
The poll resumes later tonight with a vote for sweeper which will include the versatile Johan Mjallby who many fans wanted to vote for as a centre half.
