RONNY DEILA has insisted Virgil van Dijk does not want to leave Celtic next month. The Dutch central defender has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle. But Deila reckons hanging on to the classy back-four operator would be the best piece of business in the transfer window. The Hoops boss said: He’s very happy. I have spoken with him and we are very happy to keep him as well. He’s a top player. “For me, Virgil’s developing now and taking steps all the time which is very important. I am so happy to have him. “He is enjoying his football and playing well. That’s positive. He is such an important player for us. Van Dijk was caught up in transfer speculation before the season, but the Norwegian reckons that is all behind him. Deila added: He has learned a lot from August. It’s not the first time a player has been affected. Others have been through these things, as well. Stefan Johansen was the same. “He came home from the Euro Finals with Norway two years ago and played so badly for Stromsgodset. I had never seen him so bad because his mind was somewhere else. “You can see a bit of that in John Guidetti now, as well. If he can get his mind right, the goals will come again. “If you think too much about uncertainties, about what you’re going to earn, it takes energy out of what you’re going to do on the pitch. “But Virgil learned from what happened in the summer and he knows that if he’s good enough things will happen. This is the way he wants to do it. ”He’s worth a lot of money, but I am very calm. In my opinion, he is a very good player now, but he can be a world-class player. “The next thing for him, even though he’s just 22, is to become a leader in defence who controls things. “He’s starting to do that, but there are still a lot things to work on.”
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 10:59:02 +0000