Neil Warnock and his brazen Celtic failed transfer claim sees the signing fee shift AGAIN

Former Aberdeen boss Neil Warnock has returned to Scotland to revisit his greatest regret – but not all is at seems over his botched pursuit of Liverpool great Virgil Van Dijk.

The 75-year-old exited the Granite City quick-smart last month but is back on the circuit for his upcoming tour as he regales punters with tales from a management career which has spanned six decades and 14 clubs. And it revolves around him missing out on one of the world's best defenders of his generation.

The Van Dijk story is one of a player being overlooked on countless occasions but Warnock is adamant only a boffin at Crystal Palace stopped him swooping in and landing him from Celtic ... but there's one wee problem. The football lifer now claims the Netherlands skipper – who has won at al at Anfield – could have been had for a fee as little as £3million.

Celtic paid £2.6million to Groningen for his services and Van Dijk's value soared weeks into his two-year spell in Glasgow. The fact Southampton paid £13m in 2015 underlines the absurdity of Warnock's latest riff on his well-told story. The cult boss claims Van Dijk made a beeline for him to remind him of the failed pursuit. But it hasn't always been praise, of course, with Warnock once claiming former Hibs defender Sol Bamba was better at the basics. Record Sport takes you on a roller coaster of fees, near misses and clamps which show no signs of slowing down.

April 2024

"Absolutely. Crystal Palace, right, Steve Parish, the chairman, everything was data based. And we don't sign players unless they are this, that and the other. We had a scout in Scotland tell us about a player, a good player, I won't tell you his name yet, a good player.

"We were looking for a centre half, I sent