The Matt O’Riley transfer speculation continues this morning as the Celtic midfielder continues to court attention this summer.
The in-demand midfielder has been the subject of intense rumour as some of Europe’s biggest clubs look to tempt him away from Celtic.
Last summer, Celtic knocked back a derisory offer from Leeds United and in January, the club also sent La Liga giants, Atletico Madrid, packing after they looked to prise him away from Paradise.
And now that the transfer window is officially over two weeks old, the rumour mill has started again with a Premier League club set to make a record-breaking bid.
Southampton set to bid for Matt O’Riley
The Daily Record reports that Celtic are awaiting a bid from newly-promoted Southampton that will eclipse the £25m fee the club received for Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal in 2019 and Jota’s to Al-Ittihad last summer.
According to the report, a bid of around £20m will be made with ‘future add-ons’ included to help take the fee over £25m.
However, those add-ons are caveated with the proviso that Southampton remain in the Premier League and also depend on what kind of success the club has in the top division.
Saints manager, Russell Martin, seems keen to add O’Riley after working with him at MK Dons before his move to Celtic in 2022.
The reports also indicate that Southampton are not prepared to pay over the odds for O’Riley due to Financial Fair Play ‘constraints’.
O’Riley was left disappointed this summer at being left out of Denmark’s Euro 2024 squad but even that doesn’t seem to have put off potential suitors due to the Danish international’s performances in the Champions League.
The Celtic fans and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that O’Riley will stick around for at least one more season to have a crack at the new-look Champions League which is something Southampton cannot offer the Hoops midfielder.
