Southampton and Everton have been given the all-clear to move for Virgil van Dijk, with Celtic scout, David Moss, having revealed that the defender is expected to leave the club in the “coming weeks”.

The Dutch centre-back has been one of the Hoops’ star performers over the course of the past couple of seasons following his move to Glasgow from Eredivisie side FC Groningen.

His performances have led to interest from English sides, with both Southampton and Everton believed to be admirers of his talents.

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And although he remains an important player for Celtic, Moss confessed that the financial power of the Premier League means it’s unlikely that the Scottish side will be able to hang onto their man beyond the close of the current transfer window:

“We do not receive the £80-£100m Premier League clubs receive each year from SKY/BT in comparison to the approximate £2.5m Celtic receive,” he is quoted by Metro.

“We therefore cannot compete for players playing in the Premier League and even majority of the Championship clubs. We operate in a high-risk market as we cannot afford the ‘ready-made’ players and need to identify young and ‘unproven’ players.

“In recent seasons however we have done rather well working to this strategy with Goalkeeper Fraser Forster, midfielder Victor Wanyama and Striker Gary Hooper selling for £10million, £12m and £6m respectively. All these players were bought for under £2.5million.

“Van Dijk will also probably be sold for in excess of these figures in the coming weeks.”

Everton could use him as a replacement for Chelsea-linked star John Stones, while Southampton have a strong Dutch connection through manager Ronald Koeman.

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