Former Celtic manager Ronny Deila has revealed that Virgil van Dijk was by the far the best player in his Bhoys squad.
The Liverpool star is widely regarded as the best defender in the world at the moment, but he was initially brought to British shores by Celtic in 2013.
The Scottish champions signed the Dutchman from FC Groningen and Van Dijk made a name for himself by proving himself in the rough and tumble of Scottish football.
He had already been at Celtic for a year when Deila took charge of the club in 2014 and the Norwegian admits that it was clear to him who was the star of that dressing room at Parkhead.
The former Celtic manager admits Van Dijk was affable off the pitch, but when was on it, the Dutchman always had the mentality of a winner.
Deila thinks that despite the talent in that Celtic squad, it was very clear that the Dutchman was the best player in the dressing room and everyone was aware of that.
“He was really relaxed outside the pitch”, Deila told The Athletic.
“But on it, he was a winner. You could see in his eyes that something changed when he went onto the pitch but off it, he was relaxed, social, and thoughtful.
“He was close friends with Stefan Johansen, and those two had a really good effect on each other.
“There was a good dressing room culture that year, a lot of young players coming up, and those players looked up to him.
“But he was the star, the best player by far, and everyone appreciated that.”
Van Dijk left Celtic for Southampton in 2015 before joining Liverpool in January last year.
