The Matt O’Riley Celtic exit chatter is turning into what some would describe as a transfer saga with reports of rejected bids and multiple rounds of negotiation.
Sky Sports were the latest media organisation to throw up some details on Monday, reporting that Celtic have rejected Atalanta’s most recent offer of around £14.3m.
Clearly, per the many reports of Celtic’s valuation that started last year via Fabrizio Romano, that’s well below the expectations of the club and supporters.
Celtic are thought to be looking for much closer to, if not beyond, the record-level fees in the region of £25m received for Jota and Kieran Tierney in the not-too-distant past.
The Italians seem keen to continue with their probing regardless and intriguing details are coming out of Italy around the negotiations.
The intermediary working with Celtic and Atalanta
Gianluca Di Marzio’s website names agent Blash Hosseini – who lists former Celts Carl Starfelt and Giorgos Giakoumakis as clients – as the figure facilitating the discussions between Atalanta and Celtic.
Does Matt O’Riley have an agent? It’s a fair question to ask after reports last year suggested he had left the CAA Base agency to let his family do the talking on his behalf.
However, back in April, O’Riley indicated – in passing – that an agent was back on the scene in a Sky Sports interview. The midfielder isn’t listed on the BHM Sports Agency Transfermarkt page so whether Hosseini is representing O’Riley, or he is working on the clubs’ behalf, is unknown.
Regardless, it seems there’s a fair bit of effort going into these protracted talks and it’s all, in my opinion, leading to an inevitable conclusion.
When not if O’Riley leaves Celtic
With journalists also reporting that the Bhoys midfielder is giving the ‘green light’ to a move away from Celtic, there’s a lot of information getting out there around this situation. Too much information to wave away as idle gossip.
At this point, there’s a definite air of when, not if, O’Riley leaves Celtic this summer. And where does that leave the club? Simply trying to get the best deal possible.
The Scottish champions have proven time and again in recent years that they don’t stand in the way of players looking to leave Glasgow. It’s all about ensuring they get what they feel is fair value for an asset.
Until a club meets those expectations then agents, clubs, sporting directors or whoever can try their hardest to magnify the interest in O’Riley – it won’t matter. Celtic have a price, a long contract and a sensible player on their hands.
O’Riley is doing this the right way
To O’Riley’s credit, he is acquitting himself perfectly this summer. He’s working hard in training, earning praise from the manager and proudly representing the team as captain in pre-season matches.
So while he may have the aim of moving off to a bigger league and perhaps even has people working behind the scenes to help that happen, he continues to be a strong contributor to Celtic.
It’s doubtful this will become a situation where he lets the transfer talk become a distraction or a detriment to the team. In that context, the club are well within their rights to knock every lowball offer back.
Until a suitor gets serious with the cash they’re putting up then there’ll be a lot of noise – and more flurries of multiple bids – but ultimately no progress.
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