Signed for £2.6m: Celtic hit the jackpot on 6 ft 5 star whose value

Signed for £2.6m: Celtic hit the jackpot on 6 ft 5 star whose value soared by 400%

teams willing to pay hefty fees.

The Hoops let David Turnbull, who was unable to establish himself as a consistent starter, sign a permanent contract

with Cardiff, while Mikey Johnston, Marco Tilio, and Hyeok-kyu Kwon were sent out on loan.

Celtic have a rich history of developing and selling talents for profit in recent years, as the likes of Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster,

Odsonne Edouard, Jota, and Kristoffer Ajer have been bought and then sold on for more money.

Virgil van Dijk, the current captain of Liverpool and the Netherlands, is another outstanding example of their

incredible job in the transfer market, and the Hoops struck gold with him.

In the summer of 2013, Neil Lennon moved quickly to broker a deal to buy the 21-year-old central defender

for a reputed £2.6 million from Dutch team Groningen.

With 47 appearances in all competitions during the 2013–14 season—36 in the Scottish Premiership and six in the Champions League—

the 6’5” colossus quickly cemented himself as a regular starter for the Northern Irish manager.

The next season, Van Dijk participated in an incredible 58 games in all competitions for the Hoops,

contributing an impressive 10 goals and eight assists as a center-back.

His form for Celtic across those two seasons, and ten outings at the start of the 2015/16 campaign, led to interest

from south of the border in the summer of 2015.

To strengthen the defensive options of then-boss Ronald Koeman, Premier League team Southampton emerged

victorious in the fight to sign the Dutch behemoth, reportedly for a sum of £13 million.

This meant that, just two years after paying Groningen £2.6 million to recruit him, the Glasgow giants had made

400% of their money back. In 2015, the Saints paid an additional £10.4 million for his services.

Therefore, Lennon struck gold when he signed the tall center-back for Celtic in 2013, as he not only produced

excellent play on the field but also brought in a sizable number of money for the team in the future.

Now, Brendan Rodgers must be scoping out potential summer transfer targets in the hopes of finding the next Van

Dijk, who may bring the club millions of dollars in future years.

The formidable defender afterwards joined Premier League powerhouse Liverpool for an incredible £75 million, as

the table above illustrates, meaning that the Saints also made a sizable profit on him.

Since moving to Anfield in January 2018, the 32-year-old star has made 256 appearances for the Reds across all

competitions, and he has already won the Premier League and the Champions League once each.

Given his age and the amount they paid for him, it seems unlikely that Liverpool will be able to sell him for a profit to

continue the trend, but they have been rewarded with more than 200 games and several big championships won.

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