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Scout quit over failure to sign Liverpool star

Scout quit over failure to sign Liverpool star
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Rob Parker
 @ September 19th, 2018

A former West Bromwich Albion scout quit the club because they failed to act on his recommendation to sign Virgil van Dijk.

Stuart Millar urged the Baggies to sign the then Celtic defender after watching him in action for the Scottish champions 20 times.

He says it took just 20 minutes of watching Van Dijk to realise that he was destined for the top.

West Brom, who were then managed by Tony Pulis, did not press ahead with an attempt to sign Van Dijk, who subsequently joined Southampton.

He has since made a £75m move to Liverpool and has been an integral part of the Reds side that reached the Champions League final last season and has made a perfect start to the 2018/19 campaign with.

Millar has taken that as justification that he was right in his scouting reports on Van Dijk and in his decision to leave West Brom.

He told The Scottish Sun: “In my time at West Brom, I had to watch van Dijk 20 times. That was my brief.

“I knew after 20 minutes that he was good enough to play in the English Premier League.

“I recommended him to Tony Pulis and said, ‘We must sign him’. I put on the report, ‘If we sign Van Dijk we’ll double our money in two years’.

“I got that wrong because it was about ten times the value they got back.

“Unfortunately West Brom didn’t pursue that, which was frustrating on my part and ultimately why I left West Brom — because I was certain I was recommending a player who was top notch.

“I think it should be an embarrassment to every other club that watched him and didn’t pursue him.”

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