Virgil van Dijk was 26-years-old when he moved to Liverpool but many had an earlier chance to snap-up the Dutchman, like Neil Warnock.
Speaking with Mirror Football, the 73-year-old said: “The one that got away from me was Virgil van Dijk, I got offered him when I was at Crystal Palace for £5 million.
“But my chief scout said he was too slow and he ended up at Southampton instead! It’s a shame because anything he may lack in pace, he makes up for 10-fold in his ability to read the game.”
It’s a strange one to say that the 30-year-old was thought to have lacked pace, especially since he is now one of the quickest defenders in Europe.
That’s ignoring the fact that Crystal Palace let one of the best defenders to ever play the game slip through their own fingers too.
Regardless of that though, it’s unlikely that any of this would have ended in our No.4 not arriving at Anfield but the London club may have missed out on £75 million from us – instead of it being sent to Southampton.