It seems very much like Matt O’Riley is the next star in line for a new contract at Celtic.
The Danish youth international has been on our books for around 20 months, winning four trophies with the potential for many more.
He signed a four-and-a-half-year deal when he moved from MK Dons, meaning his current contract still has three years to run.
Regardless, Celtic seem intent on improving his terms and extending his expiry date. Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that a contract renewal was on the table just a matter of weeks into the season.
“Celtic are expected to offer midfielder Matt O’Riley improved terms and an extension on his contract,” Sky Sports wrote at 12:40pm on their Wednesday ‘Transfer Centre’.
While this news is really positive, it’s not really that surprising if you’ve been following Celtic in recent times.
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Already this summer we’ve tied down Callum McGregor, Kyogo Furuhasi, Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda to long-term deals. The latter three are all signed up until the summer of 2027 with McGregor contracted until 2028 alongside the majority of our recent transfers.
Reo Hatate is also known to be chatting to the club at present. “I think [the discussions have] been ongoing from before I came in,” was Brendan Rodgers’ insight last week.
When looking at the overall contract picture on Transfermarkt, the impressive Celtic strategy becomes very clear: don’t leave any of our prized assets with two years left on their deals.
As we covered on Tuesday, the 2024 batch only really covers Joe Hart and David Turnbull — two players who are probably not long-term Celtic first-team players if we’re being honest.
The 2025 crop features Greg Taylor, James Forrest, Anthony Ralston, Liam Scales and James McCarthy. Players who have offered us something over the years, but none would go for huge money.
The 2026 selection includes Hatate, O’Riley and Cameron Carter-Vickers who must surely be the next target if deals for the former two are sorted. These guys probably won’t still be playing for the club by that stage, but signing them up puts us in the best negotiation position possible.
So, having looked at the overall picture, we’re in a very good spot. Sign up Hatate, O’Riley and Carter-Vickers and we’ll be laughing.
In other news, a class clip from a recent interview with Joe Hart has emerged on Celtic social media