Soccer

Virgil van Dijk moves to Southampton as Ryan Christie seals Celtic switch

CELTIC had completed one deadline-day deal going into the final hours of the transfer window after tying up the signing of Ryan Christie as Virgil van Dijk (right) finally left Glasgow.

The midfield playmaker made two trips to Celtic Park either side of an afternoon training session with the Scotland U21 squad with the result of the negotiations a four-year contract.

The 20-year-old will not join his new team-mates until January at the earliest though after being loaned back to injury-hit Inverness. Celtic had an initial bid of a reported £500,000 rejected before further talks secured a deal on Monday.

The Hoops are still working on a more complicated purchase of Croatia U21 defender Jozo Simunovic following Van Dijk’s widely-anticipated exit to Southampton.

It is understood the Scottish champions could ultimately collect £13 million for the 24-year-old Dutch defender, although the initial fee is £11.5 million.

Celtic had agreed a fee with Dinamo Zagreb for 21-year-old centre-back Simunovic ahead of deadline day but the transfer is complicated by work permit issues.

Celtic also have room for a striker after loaning Serbia forward Stefan Scepovic to Getafe on a season-long deal after an underwhelming year in Parkhead which yielded six goals in 26 appearances.

Defender Eoghan O’Connell was another Celtic player to move on loan, joining Oldham until New Year’s Day. Inverness used some of their Christie fee to bring in two loan forwards from England. Swindon’ s Miles Storey, 21, and 20-year-old Charlton striker Tobi Sho-Silva have joined until January.

Dundee United also signed two loan players from England as well as offloading two players to Scottish clubs.

Australia international striker Adam Taggart, 22, has signed from Fulham until January while 19-year-old Reading midfielder Aaron Kuhl will also join. Both players will link up after international commitments – the latter is with the England U20 squad.

Robbie Muirhead joined Partick Thistle on loan until January 4 while Henri Anier has moved to Hibernian for the season. Thistle later sold defender Jack Hendry to Wigan for an undisclosed fee after the 20-year-old made just five first-team appearances.