Saints keen to seal £8m million deal for Celtic’s Van Dijk |

Southampton are keen to sign defender Virgil van Dijk from Celtic this summer as they look too shore up their defence.

The Dutchman is likely to seek pastures new after his side was knocked out of the Champions League by Swedish side Malmo.

It is understood that Ronald Koeman is monitoring the situation and is set to offer £8 million for the 24 year-old.

The St. Mary’s side have previously been linked with Sven Van Beek and Terence Kongolo two versatile defenders who currently play for Koeman’s previous club Feyenoord in the Eredivisie.

Southampton are keen to sign Virgil Van Dijk from Scottish Champions Celtic for £8 million, which looks likely to happen before the end of the transfer window on Tuesday. The Dutch centre back is said to favour a move away from Parkhead after his side were recently knocked out the Champions League by Swedish side Malmo in their recent qualifier on Tuesday night. The Dutch International has stated: “It’s a terrible way if it ends like this but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The defender is also thought to of known about the speculation regarding a move to the South Coast, but when asked he stated: “I can’t say anything. I think you need to ask the board. I don’t know what will happen in the coming days. Celtic is an amazing club and I’m very thankful for everything they have done for me.”

Van Dijk was signed in 2013 by Celtic for a fee of around £2.5 million, from FC Groningen were he spent a full season, before moving to Ronny Delia’s side on a four-year deal. At 6ft 4ins he has the physical stature to deal with the rigours of Premier League football.

He was part of the defence that went 1,215 minutes without conceding a goal, breaking the 43-year-old Scottish League record set by Aberdeen’s keeper Bobby Clark. Van Dijk has also won Celtic’s player of the year award for 2014.

With Toby Alderweireld signing for Tottenham Hotspur and Sven Van Beek along with Terence Kongolo interest cooling, boss Ronald Koeman will be looking to get the deal over line as soon as possible.

Arsenal and Swansea have also been linked with the defender in recent times. It is thought that the defender may prefer the switch to Southampton after Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama have both made the move to the Saints from Celtic.