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Virgil van Dijk has been labelled by many as one of the best centre-backs to ever grace the Premier League, but his career almost took a different turn in 2013.

After leaving Dutch side FC Groningen for Celtic in 2013, it quickly became apparent that the towering defender had the potential to go to the very top.

Three seasons at Southampton, between 2015 and 2018, confirmed that the Netherlands international was capable of standing out in the Premier League and he made the £75million move to Liverpool.

However, Van Dijk’s career almost took a very different turn in 2013 while he was still at Groningen.

In the January of the 2012/13 campaign, Brighton and Hove Albion submitted a bid for the defender that was just short of Groningen’s £2.5m asking price.

The Seagulls, who were battling it out for the play-off spots in the Championship at the time, couldn’t warrant upping their bid, as revealed by Gus Poyet in 2019, who was at their helm at the time.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the Uruguayan said: “We went all the way up to Groningen to watch the game, and it was too easy for him. He was already incredible.

“After 10 minutes you could see that he was bigger than everyone, more powerful than everyone and so