Celtic clinch Virgil van Dijk signing

Virgil Van Dijk arrives in Glasgow yesterday. He has signed a four-year deal with Celtic. Picture: SNS

• Celtic have made second summer signing with Holland Under-21 defender Virgil van Dijk

• Defender signed from Groningen for a reported £2.5 million

The centre-back has signed a four-year contract after Celtic agreed a deal with FC Groningen reported to be worth up to £2.5 million.

The 21-year-old arrived in Glasgow for talks yesterday and leaves Groningen two years before his contract was due to expire.

Van Dijk, who follows 22-year-old Portuguese forward Amido Balde in joining Celtic this summer, said: “It feels very good and I’m very excited to be here.

“Celtic is the biggest club in Scotland and they also play in the Champions League. They’re a fantastic club and when Celtic came in for me I was so excited. Everything here is good so I can’t wait to get started.

“I hope to play many games for my country in the future but first of all I want to make things happen here.”

Asked what he will bring to Neil Lennon’s double-winning side, van Dijk said: “I’m a strong defender and I’m good in the air, but I also like to play football on the ground, and I hope that we’ll do even better than we did last season.”