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CELTIC last night banked a record £13m windfall for Virgil van Dijk after failing in a last-ditch bid to keep the Dutch defender.

The Hoops tried to tempt the 24-year-old to stay with a bumper new deal after Southampton slapped in an £11.5m bid.

Van Dijk was determined to depart but chief exec Peter Lawwell managed to squeeze an extra £1.5m out of the Saints to shatter the Scottish transfer record.

Celtic immediately splashed out £5m of the cash on Dinamo Zagreb defender Jozo Simunovic while Ryan Christie checked in with a £500,000 move from Inverness before being loaned straight back to the Highlanders.

But the Hoops came up short in attempts to seal loan deals for Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher and Swansea’s Michu as neither could be sold on a move to Scotland.

The massive van Dijk deal tops Victor Wanyama’s £12.5m switch to Saints in 2013 and having banked £10m for Fraser Forster last summer the St Mary’s outfit have now stuffed a staggering £35.5m into the Parkhead coffers.

The Dutchman said: “I know Celtic did not want me to leave and wanted to extend my contract.

“The club did everything to keep me and I appreciate that but I felt the time was right for a new challenge.”

Celtic’s spokesman added: “Celtic did everything we could to keep Virgil, including an offer of a new contract on a number of occasions.”

The Hoops were forced to sweat on Simunovic as van Dijk’s replacement after a deal was done with Dinamo Zagreb on Monday night.

Personal terms were agreed with the Croatian – who is on Under-21 duty – but the paperwork was not completed until the final two hours of the transfer window.

Celtic also knocked back a late bid from Bolton to take Anthony Stokes on loan for the season after struggling to land a top striker.

But Irish centre-back Eoghan O’Connell moved to Oldham on a loan deal until January and youth coach Stevie Frail announced he was quitting the club.