Neil Lennon believes that Matt O’Riley is set to land Celtic a £30m transfer windfall but that can wait until at least the summer as the former Celtic manager reckons that it’s crucial for the club to hold onto the best player in Scotland this season, in order to ensure that the campaign is a successful one for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
“Matt’s had a huge impact on the team this season, he’s been magnificent in all areas,” Lennon said, as reported by Scottish Sun. “Wherever I’ve watched him, be it domestically or in Europe, he’s been excellent. His three assists in the Champions League were out of this world and his game has just improved no end.
“Under Brendan he’s scoring a lot of goals, and creating so many opportunities for the team. He’s always a threat, and he’s got a real knack of making those late runs into the box, undetected. He’s a fantastic talent — and he’s been a brilliant bit of business for the club. The priority, for the club, is to keep hold of him. Particularly in January.”
Yet Lenny understands that O’Riley’s brilliant form, especially in the Champions League, will have attracted interest from around the continent and there are bound to be some mightily tempting financial offers coming Celtic’s way over the next few weeks. However any bids to lure O’Riley away must be resisted, particularly as the player himself is in no hurry to leave the club.
“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of offers coming in for him — but I think the club are in a position to stay strong in the January window. I do think that Brendan will want to trim the squad in other areas. But I’m sure O’Riley will stay to the end of the season. At least that’s what I’m hoping for, anyway,” Lennon added.
However it’s inevitable that Matt O’Riley will want to progress his career by playing at a top club in one of the big leagues and the Scottish Premiership certainly doesn’t fit that criteria as far as the longer term aspirations of the Denmark international is concerned.
“But you can’t stop the progress, so I would imagine selling him will be something that Celtic will look at in the summer. He’s proven himself at the highest level, in the Champions League. He’s been the best player in Scotland this season — so you’re looking at £25-30m for him, at least.
“He’s made his debut for Denmark, too, so all of these things have come very quickly to him in the last few months. But, that’s down to the boy, his family, and the way his career has been managed to this point,” Lennon said.
“I think he’s a top, top player and I believe he could play at a very high level in the Premier League. You know, Celtic will get top dollar for him, I’m sure of that. If you’re looking at any of the top six or seven teams in England, Matt could play there. Maybe he wouldn’t get straight into the first XI. But he’d take his game up a level at any of those clubs, I’m sure of that.
“He’s such an intelligent player and he takes everything on board from his coaches, whoever he’s playing under. It’s not just the Premier League, though. He could easily go and play abroad — maybe in Spain, Italy, or one of the big clubs in Germany. That wouldn’t surprise me at all. But I want him to finish off all of his good work at Celtic first.
“He’s been an absolute stand-out player this season, and it’s really important they can keep hold of him past this January transfer window, at least.”
Matt O’Riley for now is an essential component in the Celtic team and a player who can make the differences in games like tomorrow’s. There’s surely no chance that Celtic would entertain any approaches in the January window.
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Why give Lennon any time on this page (or any other) he is dead loss, lost the dressing room and players backing, caused the 10 to be handed over to the huns without a fight and lost all credibility of the support in doing so. Now he is an expert in all things Celtic,, FFS