Jaap Stam reckons Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk could make it big in England

There can be few better qualified than Holland legend Jaap Stam to assess the merits of a central defender.

So when the former Manchester United, Lazio, AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven star raves about Virgil van Dijk, you sit up and take notice.

Stam has followed Van Dijk’s career closely in the past four years, and wasn’t surprised when the player got a £2.2-million transfer from Groningen to Celtic 18 months ago.

Van Dijk has since caught the eye in his time at Parkhead, and several scouts from around Europe have been to Glasgow to check on the progress of the 23-year-old.

Arsenal and Sevilla are the biggest clubs to be monitoring him. Sunderland and West Brom have also declared an interest.

It’s likely bids will be made this month, but unless the asking price of £10 million is met, the player will stay at Celtic until the summer.

Stam is certain Van Dijk has the ability to step up and play in the Premiership or La Liga.

He said: “Virgil made a good impression when he played his football in Holland. But some of the big clubs in my country were really not sure about signing him.

“That has been Celtic’s gain. He has been playing at a high level in the Champions League and Europa League and showing his qualities.

“I have watched some of the games he’s been involved in, and Virgil has been impressive. He is a big guy and is physically strong, reasonably fast and has a good mentality.

“He also uses the ball well, and can make good combinations with his feet. He has the ability to play for a big team in England, for sure.

“He has also made his way into Guus Hiddink’s Holland squad, and it’s only a matter of time before he is given minutes on the pitch for the national team.”

Like Van Dijk, Stam has ambitions to work in England. The 42-year-old is currently the Head Coach of the Ajax reserve side and hopes to work his way up and eventually land a job in the English Premier League.

Experienced coaches in Holland believe Stam has all the attributes.

Yet, when he was a player, Stam would often look around him and see his managers and coaches enduring a stressful life with hardly a minute to relax and think that kind of lifestyle would not be for him.

But when his professional club, FC Zwolle, asked for him to help out with the coaching in 2011, he couldn’t refuse the opportunity to give them something back and he was bitten by the bug.

Stam recalled: “I retired from playing and didn’t do anything for a year or so. Then my first club asked for some help and I obliged. It was nice to see my advice was having a positive influence on the players. I enjoyed it.

“Yet I never thought I’d coach because of all the stress that comes with the job. I’ve been in many dressing-rooms and know that players can make life difficult for the management. I didn’t want hassle. I wanted to do something else.

“But I moved to Ajax as Defensive Coach for the first team under Frank de Boer. Now I’m in charge of our reserve team. It can be stressful, no doubt.

“I see young players making bad choices on the park, and I want to shout at them and help them, but it’s impossible to reach every player and tell them what to do.

“When I’m on the sidelines and I see things going wrong, then my heart is pounding in my chest because we want to win every game and do things properly.”

Stam was fortunate to work under some top managers during his playing career. Dick Advocaat and Sir Alex Ferguson are just two of many he could mention.

Ferguson signed him from Advocaat’s PSV in the summer of 1998 for £10.5 million. He was outstanding at Old Trafford and won the Champions League and three Premiership titles. But the player was sold to Lazio three years later for

£16 million.

Some say it was because Ferguson and the club weren’t happy with some things written about them in Stam’s autobiography. Others say Ferguson felt the player had peaked, and that the club wanted the huge transfer fee.

Stam said: “I didn’t want to leave United. I had just signed a new contract. But certain things happen in certain situations. I trusted my own feelings and felt it was better to go.

“Of course, my book was out there and we wrote about inside information in the United dressing-room. In a way, maybe they used the book to make it look to the United fans that was a reason for selling me. These things happen.

“But Ferguson was a big influence on me.

“He trusted me. He had many qualities and it always struck me how he sort of was able to read players’ minds in situations when they needed a rest or had to change small details in their game. It was quite amazing.

“Playing for him at United was the most productive time of my career. We had some world-class players and some big, big characters.

“A big reason for the success we had was that we were always up for it. We made sure we got the maximum out of ourselves.

“There was no hiding place. If you made a mistake for example if I didn’t make a perfect pass to Roy Keane then he would give me a dressing-down straight away.

“It would continue into the dressing-room at half-time or full-time. Neither of us would give an inch. But that was a positive. We all had desire and commitment.

“Unfortunately I don’t see enough players in this era with the same urge to maximise their talents. That is frustrating.”

Maybe there’s a message in there for Virgil van Dijk.