Celtic are reported to have placed a £25m price tag on Matt O’Riley.
According to Danish website Tipsbladet Atletico Madrid made a January offer to take the midfielder on loan followed by a fee of £18m in the summer.
With UEFA clamping down on spending that sort of deal is becoming more common with clubs struggling to put together transfer fees during the January transfer window.
Losing O’Riley while Reo Hatate is out injured would have been a hammer blow to Celtic’s title hopes with the former MK Dons man the outstanding performer for Brendan Rodgers’ side in the first part of the season.
Tipsbladet reports:
According to Tipsbladet’s information, the bid included that Atlético Madrid had to hire Matt O’Riley in the spring in order to commit to buying him on a free transfer this summer for 18 million pounds – 156 million kroner.
But it did not happen. Cause?
That Celtic has valued Matt O’Riley much higher and therefore rejected the bid with a demand that they would only sell the 23-year-old profile for 25 million pounds, which is 217 million kroner, which Atlético Madrid, according to Tipsbladet’s sources, did not respond to.
Ange Postecoglou pushed to sign the then Division One midfielder in January 2022, almost instantly O’Riley made an impact as he teamed up with Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor to form a highly effective midfield unit.
Despite signing an extended contract in September Celtic will have their work cut out to hold on to O’Riley this summer with the £25m price tag matching the fee Celtic collected for the sale of Jota last summer to Al Ittihad.
In 2019 Celtic also picked up a £25m fee from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney.
With mention of Hatate it begs the question where TF is he and when is he due back.
I thought Celtic’s agreeing to him travelling for Japan’s games was absolutely crazy/incompetenet? He was only JUST over another injury when he went off with Japan.
Celtic pays his wages via the supporters paying into Celtic and we’ve been robbed once more and this in possibly the most critical title chase for donkey’s! FFS!!!