Virgil van Dijk could have joined Arsenal or Crystal Palace for just £6m, it has been claimed
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock was persuaded not to sign £75m defender for Crystal Palace by his chief scout, and Arsene Wenger apparently made the same error
NEIL WARNOCK has revealed how close he came to nabbing Virgil van Dijk for a bargain £6million.
The then Crystal Palace chief wanted to sign the £75m Liverpool new boy from Celtic.
But his chief scout talked him out of it and Van Dijk, 26, ended up moving to Southampton for £13m in 2015.
Cardiff manager Warnock, 69, told talkSPORT: "When I was at Palace, it was difficult to sign players.
"I went after the centre-half at Celtic, Van Dijk, and they wanted £6million.
“I said, ‘We have got to buy him, don't we?'
"The chief scout went to watch him and said, ‘He is not very quick, it's Scottish football'. That was before Southampton came in for him. I hope he's watching today"
Daily Mirror reporter John Cross claimed Van Dijk was offered to Arsenal for the same price in response to Warnock's comments.
And that means the Dutchman joins an ever growing list of Arsene Wenger's near misses - which included Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
PEP GUARDED Virgil van Dijk to Manchester City links dismissed by Pep Guardiola as defender completes £75m move to Liverpool
Warnock has nowhere near £6m to spend at the Bluebirds but managed to scoop Sol Bamba on a free.
And the veteran boss reckons he has the better defender.
He told SkySports: "I think Van Dijk's got better attributes on the ball. I don't think he's a better defender.
"He looks easier on the eye but Sol Bamba is slightly better as a defender."