Celtic have REJECTED a fourth bid – this time for £20m – from Serie A side Atalanta for Matt O’Riley.
The Europea League holders have reached £20m in their valuation of the player but that falls well short of Celtic valuation of a minimum of £25m so as expected that bid has been thrown out.
Last night we reported on a new bid from Atalanta for Matt O’Riley, believed to be for €23m which is still well short of Celtic’s minimum valuation of €28m for the club’s star midfielder. And as expected that bid had joined the others from the Europa League winners in the rejected file on Michael Nicholson’s desk.
Anthony Joseph from Sky Sports late last night provided the confirmation that that the fourth Atalanta bid had been rejected. The other take-away from all of this transfer activity on Saturday evening was confirmation that Brighton, although involved in discussions, have NOT yet lodged a bid to sign the Denmark international midfielder.
Here’s the Sky Sports man reporting on the latest bid for O’Riley being rejected, saying:
‘Celtic have knocked back a fourth bid of £20m from Atalanta for midfielder Matt O’Riley. The Serie A club have been trying to land the Denmark international for over a month.Brighton are also in talks with Celtic for O’Riley, but are yet to make an official offer.’
UPDATE: Celtic have knocked back a fourth bid of £20m from Atalanta for midfielder Matt O’Riley.
The Serie A club have been trying to land the Denmark international for over a month.
Brighton are also in talks with Celtic for O’Riley, but are yet to make an official offer. https://t.co/z9bmad3sjb
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) August 10, 2024
Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano last night reported the news that Europa League holders Atalanta, who have already had three bids rejected by Celtic, had returned with a fourth bid on Saturday evening.
Romano referenced Matteo Moretto who posted details on the third Atalanta offer which this time is worth €23m, while acknowledging that this is still €5m short of Celtic’s asking price. These updates also recognise Brighton’s strong interest in signing the Celtic midfielder.
What is clear from Celtic’s point of view is that no deal will be tolerated that fails to meet Celtic’s asking price, so the Italian side who last season won silverware for the first time since the early 1960s, will likely be reminded of the asking price for multiple time in recent weeks.
There are rumours that Matt O’Riley is not sold on Brighton as his next destination as he aspires to playing Champions League football. He can get that at Celtic or indeed Atalanta but the latter opportunity will only emerge if the Italian side finally understands that Celtic will NOT sell for less than €28m.
At his media conference on Friday afternoon at Lennoxtown, which The Celtic Star attended, Brendan Rodgers had this to say about Matt O’Riley and the ongoing transfer speculation.
“For the likes of Matt, he’s been fantastic. People might say ‘Do you have to be not nice to get a move’ and that’s not the case. He’s a good guy, his training is exemplary and if a club meets the valuation that the club thinks he is worth and can go then that will happen. I repeat, the value of the players will have to be matched before the club can consider it.
“We don’t want Matt to go, first and foremost. We know the club’s model and how it works, but there’s no rush to move Matt. We would love him to stay here and be here. I can see it in himself – he’s really happy. If you have the chance to change the conditions in your life and a club makes an offer that is of great value, then you have to look at it. There always needs to be that contingency in place, for sure.”
So that should have been clear enough for Atalanta, Brighton and any other club with an interest in signing Matt O’Riley.
⚫️🔵 Atalanta sent new bid to Celtic for Matt O’Riley worth €23m.
Celtic insist on asking €28m fee for O’Riley.
Brighton also remain keen on signing the midfielder.@MatteMoretto 🤝🏻 pic.twitter.com/10OySBydi4
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 10, 2024
L’Atalanta rilancia per Matt O’Riley e offre 23 milioni di euro al Celtic.
Il club scozzese ne chiede 28.
Su Matt O’Riley c’è anche la forte concorrenza del Brighton.
— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) August 10, 2024
Celtic take on Hibs at Easter Road in the Scottish Premiership at lunchtime today and it will be telling if Matt O’Riley is not in Brendan Rodgers’s starting eleven.
It was reported earlier on in the window that Oreily was supposedly interested in joining atalanta?
Weather that’s still the case remains to be seen, as they seem to be going around in circles if they really wanted Oreily?
Usual enough earlier within the window to chance your arm with the lowball offers for players?
Now getting to the stage where ridiculous offers are not even entertained, so don’t know why clubs still waste everyone’s time in even submitting them in the first place?
Suppose it can be used as a tactic for a buying club hoping to unsettle the player and hoping they themselves will look to be forcing the move also?
Been nothing of the likes from Oreily on show whatsoever, and still believe that it will remain the case regarding him as our player also imo?
Plenty of games is expected within the earlier stages of the window, but that time has well passed now, with seasons already started and clubs putting their finishing touches to squads for the season ahead?
Oreily would be a massive part of Rodgers plans for the season ahead at present?
Yet he will also know that you can’t really plan an outcome all the while the window is open also?
So the question still remains as to just how much planning has been done to cover all potential outcomes within our squad, regarding an ongoing situation?
At the moment there is a potential worrying situation that if a club does meet the value of Oreily and he’s interested in joining such a club?
That the potential replacement, hasn’t been identified as of yet for ourselves?
Which in turn, could be considered very questionable at present, especially if a potential position remains available within our squad at present, regardless of the outcome upon the Oreily situation?
At present we still have possibly 6 options available within our squad?
Only really a requirement for a 20man SPFL match day squad in operation at present imo?
Not really sufficient cover for injuries within the squad at present, for when and should injuries occur to our current 6 midfield options?
Do our current 6 midfielders actually meet the quality standards that Rodgers keeps on about at present?
Still none the wiser about just how many midfield options Rodgers is looking for within his 25man squad either?
Reduced now with selling lawal and another homegrown option?
So could that be in order to make space for Luke McGowan within our squad?
Could the potential interest in slupp be regarded as a potential replacement for Oreily within our squad, or maybe even Holm?
Can’t see how our midfield options are going to shape up still within our 25man squad at present?
Hopefully Rodgers has a far better idea on what they might be, but certainly can’t be for certain at this stage of the window either imo?