Virgil van Dijk: Celtic defender not expecting deadline-day exit

Virgil van Dijk has been linked with a number of top-flight English clubs

Virgil van Dijk believes he will still be a Celtic player until the summer at least - because the Scottish champions insist he is not for sale.

Reported suitors Arsenal, Southampton and Sunderland have yet to make a move for the 23-year-old Dutch defender.

"Interest is fine - it's always good to have people watching you," he said after Sunday's 2-0 win over Rangers.

"But I can do nothing with interest and it looks like Celtic don't want to sell me so it looks like I'm staying here."

However, the former Netherlands Under-21 international, who joined Celtic from Groningen in 2013, insists it is not a disappointment to be staying in Glasgow.

"I'm happy here, of course, because Celtic is an amazing club and I love being here," he said.

Leigh Griffiths' early goal set up Celtic for an easy win over Rangers

Van Dijk now has a Scottish League Cup final to look forward to against Dundee United on 15 March after that win over their city rivals.

The Scottish Championship side rarely troubled the Celtic defence after Leigh Griffiths gave them an early lead.

"It was a great start, of course," Van Dijk said. "We hoped for an early goal and got that. It was an amazing start and they had not even one chance, so it was good from us.

"I didn't expect more from Rangers to be honest. We analysed them very well and we knew what to expect.

"It was a great experience, everything like the build-up and the tension.

"There was a lot of pressure on us of because everyone expected us to win, so we did well, especially the first half."