Neil Warnock reflects on failed move for £75m Liverpool defender | OneFootball

How Neil Warnock Missed Out on Virgil van Dijk for Just £4m

A Sliding Doors Moment in South London

In football, hindsight can sting as much as defeat. For Neil Warnock, one moment in 2014 has aged like sour milk. Then-manager of Crystal Palace, Warnock found himself on the cusp of a deal that could have altered the club’s trajectory—and possibly his own. Virgil van Dijk, a commanding centre-half plying his trade at Celtic, was on his radar. The cost? A modest £3–4 million. The obstacle? A spreadsheet.

Photo: IMAGO

“I wanted a centre-half badly at Palace and we were told about one in Scotland, so we sent someone up to see him play for Celtic,” Warnock revealed on talkSPORT. “The guy came back and said ‘yes gaffer, he’s a good lad, we can sign him for £3m or £4m’.”

Yet the move never materialised. Instead of relying on gut instinct or traditional scouting nous, Warnock’s bid was derailed by the emerging dominance of data analytics. “At the time, everyone had started with all the data thing,” he explained. “There were two or three lads looking at a computer with all the stats… and they didn’t think he was quick enough.”

Warnock was baffled. “I said ‘yes, he’s not quick but you don’t have to be quick, he reads the game so well he can stroll it.’ But we didn’t go after him and he went to Southampton.”

Van Dijk’s Rise: From Celtic to Colossus

It’s difficult to overstate what Liverpool would have lost had Van Dijk’s story taken a different turn. Arriving at Anfield for a record-breaking £75 million fee in 2018, the Dutchman became the fulcrum of a defensive renaissance. With him at the heart of their backline, Liverpool conquered the Champions League, ended their 30-year wait for a league title, and re-established themselves as one of Europe’s elite.

He even shared the anecdote with Warnock years later. “We played Liverpool when I was at Cardiff and he came over to me and said ‘you could have signed me,’ and I said ‘I know, I bet you were glad you were too slow for me now!’”

Legacy Forged in Red

Now 34 and still donning the captain’s armband, Van Dijk remains a central figure in Arne Slot’s evolving Liverpool side. His recent two-year contract extension suggests he’s not done yet. For fans, he is a symbol of excellence; for Warnock, a sliding doors moment that never quite closed.

In modern football, data reigns supreme—but occasionally, it overlooks the obvious. Van Dijk may not have been the fastest in 2014, but as it turns out, he was miles ahead in every other sense.