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Arsenal snubbed Van Dijk for £12m as he was deemed 'too nonchalant'

Arsenal passed up the opportunity to sign Virgil van Dijk from Celtic for £12 million ($15.7m), John Collins has revealed.

The Gunners were among those to be heavily linked with the Dutch defender during his time at Parkhead, but they never made a formal approach.

Former Celtic assistant manager Collins claims that is because the Gunners deemed Van Dijk to be “too nonchalant.”

They were not the only ones to make such a judgement, with Liverpool also opting against a move during Brendan Rodgers’ reign at Anfield.

Van Dijk would eventually end up on Merseyside, having made a club record £75 million ($98m) move from Southampton in January, but he could have graced a top six Premier League side much sooner.