RONNY DEILA wants Virgil van Dijk to stay at Celtic and help them reach the Champions League group phase, believing it makes more financial sense than the club selling the Dutchman before then.

 

With Jason Denayer set to return to parent club Manchester City once his loan agreement expires, Deila revealed he is looking to sign a central defender, with Hearts' Danny Wilson among a number of names on his shortlist. He does not expect, however, to have to recruit two ahead of the Champions League qualifiers that begin for Celtic in mid-July, despite van Dijk being linked with a number of clubs including Sunderland and Southampton.

UEFA have augmented the prize funds available for clubs reaching the group phase, and the £10m Celtic would receive just for qualifying would likely be more lucrative than any offer for the 23 year-old.

"First of all, Virgil is our player," said the Norwegian. "He will stay. That's what we want, to have him through the Champions League. He is so important to us. He still has things to work on to become even better. His chance will come in the future, but he is one of the players we really want to keep.

"Virgil is the leader in the defence, so he is vital for us. Any money we could get for Virgil can't compare with the money we would get from the Champions League.

"Jason is a young player, a very good player as well. It is easy to get one player in for him, but we [would then] need two. That's a totally different thing. We have three players we are thinking of on a Bosman deal but we haven't agreed anything with anyone.

"[Danny Wilson] is one of many names we are looking at. I know all about him, of course. He is a good player but there is nothing in that right now. We are looking for central defenders. That is an important target because of Jason and also because of the situation with Virgil. Hopefully we will keep him."

Van Dijk revealed he speaks to his agent on a daily basis but insisted he is focussing only on trying to help Celtic win the treble, not about his next move."I don't think about that at the moment, not at all," said the Dutchman. "I think about the treble.

"We have one cup now and the other two cups are close, so I want to win both of them and write some history. That's all I'm thinking about. I'm not thinking this is going to be my last season at the club or anything else. I speak to my agent almost daily. But he's more than an agent to me, he's also become a very good friend. He knows exactly what I want and what I don't want to hear. So, we have a very good relationship and that remains that way."

Uncapped Van Dijk was again overlooked by Guus Hiddink, the Netherlands manager, for the recent European Championship qualifiers, and believes playing in the Scottish league could be hindering his chances.

"Yes, I think that's maybe one of the big reasons," he added. "They don't take the league too serious. I don't know what the reason is, but until then I just need to keep working and hopefully get a call-up."

With Denayer making his debut for Belgium in their victory over Israel on Tuesday night, Deila, however, was sceptical about that being the reason behind van Dijk's exclusion.

"I don't think the Belgian national team is any worse than the Dutch. Right now it is better. So I don't think that is the answer. I don't know the level of the other central defenders in Holland but they must be very, very good to be better than Virgil, in my opinion."