Celtic have acted decisively to reject a bid for first-team star Matt O’Riley, according to a report.
The Denmark youth international has been a Celtic player for around 20 months, contributing a fair amount on his way to four domestic trophies so far.
O’Riley has been one of the most prominent players so far under Brendan Rodgers, featuring in every pre-season fixture and only missing a handful of competitive minutes so far.
While speculation about the likes of Liel Abada and Reo Hatate has been rife in recent times, O’Riley hasn’t really been spoken about as a player who could leave this summer.
It was, therefore, a surprise to hear that Bologna had recently submitted a bid to sign him.
The Scottish Sun report that the Serie A side saw their offer “quickly dismissed” by Celtic. They are now said to be deciding whether to make a higher offer, so the story may not be over.
Bologna have been known to like Premiership talent in recent years. They currently have former Aberdeen man Lewis Ferguson on their books, and had Aaron Hickey before that.
Current Hoops star Stephen Welsh was also linked with them earlier this summer.
With all due respect to the above names, O’Riley does seem a little different. Hickey and Ferguson may be on the rise but Bologna signed them from Hearts and Aberdeen respectively.
Plucking O’Riley from Celtic with three years left on his deal would be a much bigger achievement.
It’s no surprise to hear that the club aren’t entertaining any offers. Having already lost Jota and Carl Starfelt this month, plus Aaron Mooy’s retirement and our current injury crisis, we really can’t afford to lose any more players.
O’Riley seems happy and motivated. There will interest to come in the future. Time will tell if Bologna re-enter the chase.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers isn’t trying to kid on the Celtic support about the strength of the current Hoops team
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