Stephen McGowan believes that Celtic have no plans to sell any key performers during the current transfer window.
At 7.49pm last night Lyall Thomas broke the news of interest from Girona who are said to have been watching the midfielder all season. As part of the City Football Group Girona will be monitoring every player, with his performances and stats O’Riley will be creating special interest.
With Mark Lawwell toiling to bring in anyone of quality the last thing that Celtic need is to lose any of their top performers in mid-season.
On previous form Celtic will be delighted to sell O’Riley for more than £20m in the summer but a January deal would seriously weaken the squad and question the ambitions and motives of CEO Michael Nicholson.
McGowan has a strong track record for understanding Celtic’s transfer intentions, writing in the Daily Mail he explains:
SPANISH league leaders Girona are weighing up a move for in-form Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley.
The Denmark international recently signed a new contract tying him to the Scottish champions until 2027.
As yet, Mail Sport understands there have been no offers for the 23-year-old, who was a target for Leeds United and Southampton last summer.
However, Gerona – the City Group club taking La Liga by storm – have now taken a strong interest in O’Riley along with another Spanish club.
Locked in a title battle with arch-rivals Rangers, Celtic have no plans to sell key performers in the current window.
The Daily Record and The Sun are carrying very similar themes, no bids have been received while profiling previous interest in O’Riley with reference to Leeds United in the summer.
Brendan Rodgers will hold a media conference today where the focus will be on transfer activity rather than Sunday’s match against Buckie Thistle.
Exclusive: La Liga leaders #Girona are strongly interested in signing #Celtic’s Matt O’Riley before the deadline. Another big club in Spain looking too and at least one in the Premier League. Top player. https://t.co/OzHTtF6aQx (w/@AnthonyRJoseph) pic.twitter.com/iASOHyZ21Z
— Lyall Thomas (@SkySportsLyall) January 18, 2024
I think It’ll be brilliant just to get Football once again this weekend !