JOHN COLLINS, the Celtic assistant manager, last night described Virgil Van Dijk as the best central defender in Europe and insisted he was confident the Dutchman would not leave the club this summer.
Van Dijk's name has rarely been out of the news since the end of the season. Celtic will be surprised if they don't receive a bid for the player who himself has spoken about moving on and that it would best for his club to cash in on him.
Collins, however, believes the former Gronigen star, who he is close to, will make the decision to stay in Glasgow and develop into an even better player.
The assertion by Ronny Deila's No2 that Van Dijk is at least as good as the best players on the Continent in his position will raise a few eyebrows, but it may go some way of explaining why Celtic would look for £10million for a player who is yet to be capped by his country.
"For me Virgil can play for any team in Europe so the important thing is he doesn't think he has to jump ship quick and take the first offer," said Collins. "He's got to believe in his ability and believe that he can play for a top European club.
"He's at a great club just now and if he keeps working hard and developing then I've no doubt that one day he'll be at a top Champions League club - I'm talking about one of the mega names in Europe.
"I believe there is currently no better centre half in Europe than Virgil Van Dijk. I watch Champions League football, I watch Premier League football every week and Virgil is as good as anybody who is playing football in Europe.
"He has two years to go so there is no mad panic from our point of view about hanging on to him."
A criticism of Van Dijk, and this is a point made earlier in the week by Frank McAvennie, is that he has yet to prove himself in Europe.
His performances two seasons ago in the Champions League were uneven, although he had his good nights, and in the Europa League last time out, his younger team-mate Jason Deneyar was the one who caught the eye.
Even Collin, his biggest fan, believes the 23-year-old still has something to prove.
"I think at the start of last season he could have played better," said Collins. "Virgil wasn't ready mentally in the qualifiers last year but since then his performances have been superb.
"I'm very surprised he's not in the Holland team at the moment and that is probably down to snobbery because of the league he is playing rather than the quality of the individual.
"But that's where playing in the Champions League would help. A lot of people will be judged on the Champions League because that's where most of the top players perform. So that's where Virgil and all our boys want to be playing against the big boys."
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