Celtic’s scouts will already know the next Van Dijk

Celtic’s tie with Legia Warsaw in the Champions League could determine more than just the club’s hopes in Europe.

See off the Poles over two legs, and the Hoops will advance to the play-offs and have the chance to reach the group stages, with its cash windfall of some £16m.

It is a huge prize and one, I believe, that will determine their thinking on the prospective sale of their star players.

Sunderland watched Virgil Van Dijk in action in Tuesday night’s win over KR Reykjavik at Murrayfield, and are reported to be ready to make a bid of several million for the Dutch Under-21 internationalist.

Another man in demand is Fraser Forster.

Celtic rejected what they described as a “derisory” bid for the England keeper from Southampton. In both cases, it is unlikely we have heard the last of the matter.

The Scottish champions will have their own private valuations of the players’ worth, and it’s hard to think that £10m wouldn’t get Van Dijk. Likewise, that a bid of £8m would fail to secure Forster’s transfer.

Either deal would be fantastic business for the Hoops, and be entirely in keeping with the strategy of identifying young players, who can be developed at Celtic Park then sold on for a big profit.

There is, of course, a balance to be struck.

The Champions League groups are a great stage for players and coaches alike, and no-one is going to want to get there only to suffer a string of defeats. This applies to new manager Ronny Deila as much as anyone. He was not long in publicly stating he does not want to lose his best players. I can’t believe, either, that the fans would accept both Van Dijk and Forster moving on without replacements of genuine quality being brought in.

With Forster, of course, that has already been done. The signing of Craig Gordon as a free agent could turn out to be an inspired move. Seven years ago, Sunderland paid £9m for the man who was then the undisputed Scotland No.1. Dogged by injury problems, Gordon was released in 2012. Now 31 years old, he has plenty to prove. But, at his best, he could arguably perform at an even higher level than Forster.

I also believe Celtic’s scouting set-up will definitely have identified several players with the potential to be the next Virgil Van Dijk. So if a huge fee comes in, the new boss will be given plenty of attractive options from which to take his pick.

Van Dijk himself, after all, was brought in to bolster a squad that had lost Victor Wanyama for £12.5m to Southampton.

All this might be moot, of course. Lose heavily in Poland and Deila’s men will be looking at having to play off to make the group stages of the Europa League.

In that scenario, there would not be the same need to hold on to their top stars and we could well see deals struck quickly, possibly for smaller fees.