Celtic reject £20m Atalanta bid for Matt O’Riley

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.’

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.

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.