Virgil Van Dijk not as good defensively as Sol Bamba, says Neil Warnock
Neil Warnock thinks Cardiff City centre-back Sol Bamba is a better defensive centre-back than Liverpool-bound Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk will become the most expensive defender in world football when he joins Liverpool on January 1 after the Reds agreed a £75m deal with Southampton for the Dutchman on Wednesday.
Last week, Warnock said he would not swap Ivory Coast international Bamba for any defender in the Premier League or Championship. And speaking ahead of Friday’s visit of Preston, live on Sky Sports Football, Warnock was asked if that included 26-year-old Van Dijk.
„I think Van Dijk has got better attributes on the ball than Sol Bamba but I don’t think he is a better defender,“ Cardiff boss Warnock said ahead of the visit of Preston on Sky Sports Football on Friday.
„I think Sol Bamba is slightly better than Van Dijk defensive-wise. I think Van Dijk has got more confidence on the ball and looks easier on the eye, but I don’t think he is better defensively.“
Warnock revealed he actually tried to sign Van Dijk during his time as Crystal Palace manager but was told the defender lacked the pace to adjust to the rigours of the Premier League.
„At centre-half I was looking at Van Dijk [when I was in charge at Crystal Palace]. I suggested we buy him for £6m at the time and the chief scout said he wasn’t quick enough and didn’t see him stepping up [from the Scottish league] to the level we were looking for.
„I hope he’s watching this morning that chief scout, £75m!
„You’ve got to be lucky with transfers when you’re a manager, you’ve got to hope that when you want a player you can actually go and get him rather than go through all the rigmarole but it made me smile in the morning when I saw that.“
Asked what he thought of the bold move made by Liverpool ahead of the January transfer window opening on Monday, Warnock said: „I think what a wasted few months. They should have done that over the summer rather than messing about with £50m [that they bid in the summer] or whatever it was.
„Why not just do it over the summer and get him. It’s a waste because Liverpool have needed a centre-half for a long, long time haven’t they? I think they’ll be kicking themselves that they didn’t do it months ago.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
