[wba_1996]

WEST Bromwich Albion have joined the growing list of clubs keeping tabs on Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk.

The Sun reports that the Baggies are considering making an offer for the highly-rated Dutch stopper, and have had the 23-year-old watched on a number of occasions.

Hawthorns boss Alan Irvine has seen his side struggle in recent weeks and could put in a bid for the centre half.

But they face competition from Premier League rivals Sunderland, who are expected to make a January bid, and Arsenal, who have been loosely linked with the former Groningen player.

Other clubs credited with an interest in van Dijk include Southampton, West Ham, Sevilla, Hamburg, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Dynamo Moscow reportedly made an enquiry about the defender back in May while Manchester City were said to be monitoring van Dijk in January.

Ronny Deila is keen to hold onto the £8 million-rated defender - but a big-money bid could tempt van Dijk away from Celtic Park.

Would love that to come off but can't see it unfortunately.

Think we will need to utilise the loan market wisely in January if we want a good chance of survival before our run-in. Joel Campbell and/or Fabio Borini would do nicely. It's also worth a shot to try and get Danny Ings as Burnley will have to accept an offer unless they want to lose him for nothing in the summer, wouldn't go over £4m though.