It has not been a great couple of weeks for fans of Celtic, as although manager Brendan Rodgers did finally manage to pick up a Champions League win, we still exciting the competition, and our Scottish Premiership form has fallen off the proverbial cliff.
Despite Rodgers seeing his Celtic side establish a very early dominance in the top flight and build up a decent points gap on those sides who trailed us, there have long been issues with performances and some players are simply failing to live up to the levels they achieved under former gaffer Ange Postecoglou.
For those who like a flutter and use a 21LuckyBet Bonus very few would have seen back to back domestic defeats coming, but here we are and we are now heading towards the New Year in quite a precarious position.
That is not going to help our gaffers chances of signing the quality that he is looking for to ensure we kick on further, nor will it overly help us to hold onto the talent that we have when other suitors come potentially sniffing around when the January transfer window opens.
One of those talents is midfielder Matt O’Riley. The 23 year old Denmark international has been very impressive following his arrival from MK Dons back in January 2022, and this season alone he has scored nine times in 24 appearances – but he has also long been linked with a potential move to the Premier League.
Leicester City were linked with having an interest when Rodgers was still at the Midlands’ club, but West Ham United, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion have all recently been listed as developing an interest in him as well.
Back in the summer we reportedly rejected a £10 million offer from Leeds United, with it being said that we held a £25 million valuation on the player, and speaking at the time our gaffer explained.
“I’ve got experience of that where you think you can keep them for another year. But they are not the same player if they really want to go. I never got that feeling at all from Matt. He is investing his time in development. He could have left here. With the greatest respect, he could have earned significantly more money by leaving. But that is not everything for him.”
Rodgers went on to say that he felt the main focus from O’Riley was purely on his development and he felt Celtic were best placed to offer him that, so with the wheels falling off in more recent times, fans will naturally wonder if the player may change his mind – given the sort of contract values he could now demand given he has again had a very good first half of the season on a personal front.
It would certainly be a huge blow if he were to move on in January, and Rodgers will definitely be hoping that is not the case as he looks to get our form back on track.
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