What’s happening now at Atletico Madrid could end interest in Celtic hero Matt O’Riley

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The Matt O’Riley saga is one that has kept the Celtic fans on the edge of their seats all summer long.

The Denmark international has been this summer’s hottest gossip column as now fewer than ten clubs have registered interest in the Celtic midfielder.

Matt O’Riley has been superb for the Parkhead club after signing from MK Dons in January 2021.

Since then, the 23-year-old has donned the green and white Hoops 121 times scoring 27 goals and creating 34 assists.

But it has been under Brendan Rodgers that O’Riley has played his best football and has, in turn, attracted the attention of La Liga giants, Atletico Madrid.

How Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher could end Atletico’s O’Riley pursuit

So far, it seems like Serie A side, Atalanta, is leading the chase for O’Riley, The Italians have already had three transfer offers knocked back whilst interest from Atleti seems to have cooled.

However, the Spanish club have been long-term admirers of the Celtic hero but all that could change after transfer developments over the last couple of days.

Diego Simeone is reportedly looking to spend £34m on Chelsea’s attacking midfielder, Conor Gallagher, this summer and the latest update this afternoon from The Standard claims that the Argentinian is ‘closing in’ on a deal for the England international.

If the sale goes through, that could effectively end Atletico’s interest in O’Riley as the La Liga club had to offload Saul Niguez this summer so that they could afford a deal for the Celtic midfielder.

Now that they seem to have identified and are close to signing Gallagher, it would be highly unlikely that they would look to add a second player for the same position at extra cost to the club.

Celtic still have to worry about the other nine potential suitors but as far as the Spanish side are concerned, it seems O’Riley may not be joining them any time soon.