One too many- Rodgers reveals why he called a halt on summer Celtic exit

Brendan Rodgers has revealed that selling Matt O’Riley during the summer would have been one departure too many.

During the summer 2022 transfer window no big names left Celtic as Ange Postecoglou carried the momentum of his first title win into a Champions League campaign.

This time around things were different. At the start of July Al Ittihad came in with a £20m plus offer for Jota while Celta Vigo were making a move for Carl Starfelt.

With Aaron Mooy retiring there was a significant hole in the core of the Celtic squad when Leeds United appeared on the scene looking to sign O’Riley.

A fee of around £10m has been mentioned which would have represented a profit of £8.5m on the former MK Dons midfielder but Rodgers feels that it would have caused even more damage to the squad that he inherited.

The Sun reports the former Liverpool boss saying:

It was an open conversation, and that’s what I’ve always had here with Michael Nicholson and the guys.

I didn’t think we could afford to lose another starter and the club were very supportive on that. They were great.

We had obviously lost Carl Starfelt and lost Jota, and we knew Cameron Carter-Vickers was going to be out for a while. I didn’t feel we could lose another one but of course, that’s all on the player as well.

If the player really wants to move, then I’m also a believer that if he doesn’t want to be here then don’t be here.

I’ve got experience of that where you think you can keep them for another year but they are not the same player if they really want to go.

I never got that feeling at all from Matt. He is investing his time in development.

He could have left here. With the greatest respect, he could have earned significantly more money by leaving but that is not everything for him.

Celtic are believed to be in talks with O’Riley over extending his contract which currently runs until May 2026.