Virgil van Dijk has completed his long-mooted move to Southampton from Celtic for £11.5m – a fee that could rise to £13m on the basis of appearances. Ronald Koeman had made the addition of a centre-half a priority in the closing stages of the transfer window and the Southampton manager now has his man.
Van Dijk undertook his medical at the club on Monday night and has signed a five-year contract. The 24-year-old Dutchman will add to Koeman’s options in central defence, which compromise José Fonte, Maya Yoshida and Steven Caulker. Koeman is without the long-standing injury victim Florin Gardos while he was unable to turn Toby Alderweireld’s loan from Atlético Madrid into a transfer, with the Belgian joining Tottenham Hotspur.
Van Dijk moved to Celtic from Groningen in 2013 for £2.6m and he won the Scottish title in both his seasons at the club, together with the Scottish Cup but the writing was on the wall for his Celtic career when he was part of the team who went out of the Champions League at the play-off stage against Malmo last week.
The Southampton executive director, Les Reed, said: “The Champions League had an effect on the moment of release, which we were aware of, so it was about keeping our focus and doing our due diligence before eventually getting him over the line. We’ve had Virgil in our system for a long time and have explored the possibility of signing him in previous transfer windows. This year, we had a really strong opportunity to do it.”
Van Dijk became Koeman’s eighth signing of the summer, following Juanmi, Cédric Soares, Cuco Martina, Jordy Clasie, Oriol Romeu, Maarten Stekelenburg and Caulker. The latter two have joined on loan.
“This is a very ambitious club, who have been doing very well in the last couple of years,” Van Dijk said. “It’s a great place to be and it’s the right step for me. For me to get the opportunity to play in the Premier League is unbelievable and I will enjoy it. I know it’s an ambitious club – they have been through a lot throughout the years. They are trying to play football and that’s something that really attracted me.”
