The rumours surrounding Matt O’Riley leaving Celtic this summer have been doing overtime as the Hoops midfielder continues to court suitors.
O’Riley has been a revelation since joining Celtic in 2022 and has helped secure three league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
A bargain buy under Ange Postecoglou, O’Riley enjoyed his best season ever at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers as the midfielder scored 19 goals and created 18 assists.
O’Riley picked up the Young Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Player of the Year Awards due to his incredible form and now, it seems, he is set to pick up a move away from Celtic this summer.
Atalanta ‘pushing for’ Matt O’Riley
A report emerged yesterday on GianliucadiMarzio.com that O’Riley had already agreed to a move to Serie A side, Atalanta.
So to get more details, 67 Hail Hail contacted the journalist who delivered that update, Luca Bendoni, on X and asked if he could give us the lowdown on what is happening with the 23-year-old Celtic midfielder.
Bendoni said, “The second offer [from Atalanta] was around £15m and that was, of course, rejected. Celtic are expecting a much higher fee.
“Atalanta are negotiating as Matt O’Riley is their top target for the midfield. They are pushing for him.
O’Riley has already given the green light, his approval, to an Atalanta move should there be a concrete possibility of agreeing a fee between the two clubs.
“He has also already basically given his green light to a long-term project that should be around five years.
“But he has given his green light to the move.”
Juventus and Matt O’Riley
Indeed, Atalanta is not the only Serie A club who have shown interest in the Celtic hero. Juventus have identified him as a possible target this summer so I asked Bendoni about that and he gave us the following update.
Bendoni said, “It happens that Juventus, at the moment, has not moved towards any formal step towards Celtic for Matt O’Riley.”
With the 23-year-old seemingly now making his intentions to join Atalanta clear, all that remains now is for Celtic and the Europa League winners to agree a fee.
The Parkhead club will be wanting a club record fee for their star player. At his age and with four years still to run on his current deal, the ball is firmly in Celtic’s court.
If and when this move does happen, the Celtic supporters will be hoping that any money earned from this deal will be pumped right back into the team because replacing a player of O’Riley’s quality will take cash and plenty of it.
