Leeds United’s controversial former owner Massimo Cellino once allegedly turned down the chance to sign Virgil van Dijk.
Graham Bean, who worked as an advisor for the volatile Italian, has revealed that Dave Hockaday once proposed van Dijk as an option, while the Dutchman was at Celtic. Cellino overruled Hockaday, who would last just 70 days in the dugout, and signed an unknown defender from the Italy instead.
“I got on well with Dave and he was a really nice bloke, as was his assistant Junior Lewis,” Bean wrote in the Daily Mail. “But the reality was they were both out of their depth at Leeds.
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“Dave did, however, identify two outstanding players that would have transformed the club. One was a certain van Dijk, then at Celtic. Unfortunately Cellino ignored him and signed Giuseppe Bellusci on loan from Italian [Serie A] side Catania.
“Bellusci thrived on an undeserved hard-man reputation. He made his debut in a 4-1 defeat to Watford and things didn’t improve much from there – he wasn’t like by many of his teammates or the club staff.”
The Italian defender played 61 times for the Whites and spent his third and final season on loan in Italy with Empoli.
His contract was terminated upon his return to the club and while van Dijk was lifting the Premier League with Liverpool in 2020, Bellusci was battling for promotion in the Italian third tier.
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