MATT LE TESSIER believes Celtic are in line to receive a massive cash bonus in January of around £5million if Virgil van Dijk leaves Southampton.
The Dutchman, who moved away from Parkhead 16 months ago, is wanted by several top Premier League clubs including both Liverpool and Everton, with Tottenham Hotspur the latest said to be ready to make a bid in the next transfer window.
And Le Tissier, Southampton’s greatest ever player, believes the former Celtic man could go for as much as £50m either in January or next summer.
Read more: Celtic defender Mikael Lustig has gone from having too many niggles to noising up Neymar
It is understood the Scottish champions would receive at least ten per cent from any sale of a player who cost them £2.6m when he signed from Groningen in 2013 and who then moved to the south coast for £13m.
“For me, Virgil van Dijk is probably the best centre-back in the Premier League at the moment,” said Le Tissier who spent his entire career at Southampton. “He is as good as that. I have seen a lot of Southampton this season and at times, he looks like a man playing in a boy’s game. He really does. He had Romelu Lukaku (of Everton) in his pocket for the entire game on Sunday. I just think he is superb.
“Let me tell you, if Van Dijk stayed for a couple of years I’d be absolutely delighted. But I doubt we’ll keep him for that long. I’m hoping we can at least keep him until the end of the season because then it doesn’t disrupt things too much. Hopefully, we don’t lose him in January.
Read more: Celtic defender Mikael Lustig has gone from having too many niggles to noising up Neymar
“From what I have seen this season, I would probably suggest it would take between £40 million and £50 million to get him away from Southampton. I would be very surprised if he was let go for anything less than that because he has signed a new long-term deal.
“Celtic will have a sell-on clause and rightly so. That’s good business by them.”
Southampton have paid Celtic over £40m in recent years for the acquisitions of Van Dijk, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama whose summer move to Tottenham also made the Glasgow club several million pounds because of a clause similar the one which will kick-in when Van Dijk goes.
Le Tissier has been delighted his club’s record in their dealings so with Celtic but not surprised by how well they've worked out.
“We have signed three top-notch players from Celtic who have managed to do very good jobs for us,” he said. “Obviously big Vic has moved on but he did a cracking job during his time at the club. Fraser is still terrific.
‘What happens is that Liverpool pay us loads of money for players and then we take a bit of that money and give it to Celtic. It’s a nice little circle! So far, the arrangement has worked well. I think Liverpool have given us over £100 million over the last three seasons and still couldn’t finish above us last season.
“I wasn’t surprised by Southampton going to Celtic and Scottish football for players because I know the scouting system at the club is superb. They do real in-depth research into players they buy.
“Yes, you are obviously taking something of a chance because you don’t know how they are going to react when they come to the Premier League. So far, though, they have picked out three absolute gems.”
So who is going to be next? Moussa Dembele will one day head south and while he has been tipped to move to one of the bigger club in a few years time, Southampton are sure to be interested.
Le Tissier is an admirer of the Frenchman who this season has already scored 20 goals for club and his country’s under-21 team and believes the striker is at the right club in which to develop.
Read more: Celtic defender Mikael Lustig has gone from having too many niggles to noising up Neymar
“I have seen a bit of Dembele,” admitted Le Tissier. “When guys are doing the business at Celtic then it does tempt the Premier League clubs to take a look at them. If he was to be the next one then so be it.
“He has done terrifically well at Celtic, not just in the domestic scene, but also in the Champions League. He has a lot of potential and improvement still to come so I wouldn’t surprise me if one of the Premier League clubs came in for a look at him.
“I was a little bit surprised that he wasn’t kept in English football when he left Fulham because he’d showed plenty of potential there. But a club the size of Celtic is tempting for a young lad, especially with the carrot of Champions League football."
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