Swans Join Others In Hunt For Celtic Defender

The Swans are today being linked with a move for Celtic defender Virgil Van Dijk after he was reported to be wanting a move away from the Scottish Champions.

They will though face competition from Premier League rivals Tottenham, Southampton, Sunderland and Norwich for his signature after he said earlier this week that he wants to leave.

Van Dijk has an eye on a place in Holland's European Championship team for next summer and has decided that the best place for that dream to come true is playing for a team outside of Scotland although Celtic assistant boss John Collins says that the club are determined to hold onto him urging the player to stay and wait for the right chance to come along

Collins said: "I believe there is currently no better centre-half in Europe than Virgil. I watch Champions League football and Premier League football every week and Virgil is as good as anybody who is playing football in Europe.

"Virgil can play for any team so the important thing is he doesn’t think he has to jump ship quick and take the first offer.

"He has to believe in his ability and he can play for a top European club."

The Daily Express reports that Garry Monk is an admirer of Van Dijk and could be interested in the move with the £8m price tag quoted.

The only way I can see any truth in this would be if the rumoured Valencia interest in Federico Fernandez came through to be true and he was to move away from the club. With Fernandez, Ashley Williams, Jordi Amat and Kyle Bartley at the club you would question whether the Swans would spend £8m of their budget to get another defender in when they already have strong competition for places?

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