Virgil van Dijk leaves Celtic for Southampton

Virgil Van Dijk has signed for Southampton on a five-year-deal with the Premier League side.

The transfer fee is reported to be in the region of £13 million for the Dutch centre-back.

Southampton  secured the signature of the 24-year-old centre-back who played his last game for Celtic in a 3-1 against St Johnstone at Paradise and the news was confirmed by BBCSport.

Celtic signed Van Dijk from FC Groningen for a fee of around £2.6 million back in 2013, but after two seasons in Paradise the defender is ready to take the next step in his career and push for a place in the Netherlands national side.

His final wish for the Hoops was to help secure Champions League football for the Scottish side but couldn’t on Tuesday night as Celtic crumbled in the second leg of the playoff round.

Van Dijk will join two former Celtic players, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama at Southampton who have both left in recent years. The Kenyan’s future at the club, however, remains unclear after he reportedly asked to leave the club.