Neil Warnock says he didn’t sign £75m Liverpool player at one point because he was simply too slow

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Liverpool are not afraid to spend big on players but only do so when they are sure they will revolutionise the team.

As shown over recent years, the Reds do not get too many transfers wrong, with Darwin Nunez one of the few who could be considered a flop as of late.

Arne Slot has also shown that he is willing to take risks on players in the hope that they will become a vital cog in a winning machine, with the latest being Hugo Ekitike.

However, other managers prefer to be more careful and will only make a move if everyone at the club is on the same wavelength.

Neil Warnock is one of these and back in 2014, when he was in charge of Crystal Palace, he wanted to sign a player who has gone on to win everything at Anfield, but decided not to as he was simply not fast enough.

Neil Warnock was urged against signing Virgil van Dijk as he was not quick enough

‘What if’ stories are always ones that cause a bit of a stir online, whether that be fans disappointed that they missed out on a star or rival supporters finding it hilarious.

Warnock has now shared another one that might frustrate a few Palace fans, as he revealed on talkSPORT that he was keen to bring Virgil van Dijk to Selhurst Park, but the hierarchy opted against it all because of one trait, or lack of it in this case.

“I wanted a centre-half badly at Palace and we were told about one in Scotland, so we sent someone up to see him play for Celtic,” Warnock said.

“The guy came back and said ‘yes gaffer, he’s a good lad, we can sign him for £3m or £4m’ so I told the chairman and, at the time, everyone had started with all the data thing and there were two or three lads looking at a computer with all the stats and everything.

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“He came back the next day and said ‘sorry Neil, I don’t want to go ahead with that’. I asked why and he said ‘they don’t think he’s quick enough.’

I said ‘yes, he’s not quick but you don’t have to be quick, he reads the game so well he can stroll it.’ But we didn’t go after him and he went to Southampton.

“We played Liverpool when I was at Cardiff and he came over to me and said ‘you could have signed me,’ and I said ‘I know, I bet you were glad you were too slow for me now!”

Virgil van Dijk has been one of Liverpool’s greatest ever signings

Liverpool fans will be glad that this deal never happened as he may never have joined the Reds later down the line, with the Dutchman one of the best signings in the club’s history.

Captain. Leader. Legend. The 34-year-old made an instant impact when he arrived for £75m and he has been a key part in completely changing the trajectory of the whole club.

He has also won every trophy available to him and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, with the Dutchman signing a new two-year contract only last season.

He has firmly established himself as not only one of Liverpool’s best-ever defenders, but one of the greatest the Premier League has seen, suggesting Warnock might be rather annoyed that he did not get that deal over the line.