Virgil van Dijk: Brighton could have signed Liverpool star, but couldn’t afford the 3m fee, Gus Poyet tells talkSPORT

Virgil van Dijk: Brighton could have signed Liverpool star, but couldn’t afford the 3m fee, Gus Poyet tells talkSPORT
Gus Poyet has revealed to talkSPORT he could have signed Virgil van Dijk for just 3million when he was manager of Brighton.Only, the south coast club couldnt afford it!Van Dijk has proved to be worth every penny of the 75million Liverpool paid for him in January 2018, with the Netherlands international recently crowned the PFA Player of the Year.GETTY1

Van Dijk has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world

He arrived at Anfield from Southampton, who signed the commanding centre-back from Scottish champions Celtic in 2015 for 13m but it appears he may have arrived in England much earlier in his career had Brighton boasted a bigger budget.Then in the Championship, ex-Seagulls boss Gus Poyet travelled to the Netherlands to watch Van Dijk in action, and he liked what he saw. Speaking on Wednesdays Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Poyet said: I went to see Van Dijk at Groningen when I was coach at Brighton.We went all the way up to Groningen to watch the game, and it was too easy for him. He was already incredible.“After ten minutes you could see that he was bigger than everyone, more powerful than everyone and so calm on the ball.“We watched the whole game and afterwards we talked to the chairman and we started getting in contact with the club and the agents, but he was too expensive for Brighton. He was 3million at that time!“Brighton had just come into the Championship, although a year later we spent 3m on a striker, Leonardo Ulloa, but for a defender at that time it was impossible.”

"When I was at Brighton I went to watch Van Dijk at Groningen……but he was 3 million euros which was too much!" Gus Poyet reveals #BHAFC could have signed @VirgilvDijk but the club couldn't quite find the funds! What a signing that would have been for the Seagulls! pic.twitter.com/cPRyRo3ICy— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 1, 2019

Instead, he joined Celtic for the same fee, paving the way for his eventual move to Anfield where he has quickly become a Kop hero.Van Dijk has made a stunning impact on the Liverpool back-four and has been one of the key reasons why they are up there with Manchester City challenging for the Premier League title.The Reds have conceded just 20 goals in the Premier League this season the fewest of any team in the top flight.And he will be hoping to help Liverpool keep another clean sheet when they take on Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night with LIVE talkSPORT commentary from the Nou Camp.

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It was another short-lived appointment and on 4 January 2016, he was dismissed following a 2-2 draw against his old club, Valencia. On 11 March 2016, Benítez was announced as the manager of Newcastle United in an attempt to save the club from relegation.

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