This morning, the press has linked Celtic with several midfield targets should Matt O’Riley be sold during what’s left of this transfer window.
Some of these targets are interesting, and if the media is correct, we’re considering spending proper money on a suitable replacement.
But this is where things start to get tricky.
The timeframe becomes problematic because some of these deals sound complicated and should have been in the works for a while. Eventually, the club will have to ask itself a difficult question: Do we accept a bid for Matt O’Riley that might fall slightly short of our asking price to ensure we have enough time to sign a proper replacement?
If we leave this until the final days—or even hours—of the window to negotiate Matt’s sale, we won’t have the time to bring in a player with the right calibre and CV to fill the gap he leaves behind.
I’m not suggesting we leave a high seven-figure sum on the table. I’m just saying we need to be careful. If we’re going to sell Matt in this window, it needs to be done with adequate time left so that we aren’t leaving ourselves short.
Personally, I’d prefer to keep him at the club for another year.
I think there’s a growing feeling inside Celtic Park that this might be the best course of action. We know that if he plays well in the Champions League group stages, his value is only going to increase. We were quite unlucky that he didn’t make the Denmark squad for the Euros because if he had, we might already have received a record-breaking bid.
Matt O’Riley has learned a lot in the past year and developed as a player beyond any of our expectations. He clearly feels much more comfortable working under Brendan Rodgers than he did under Ange Postecoglou. Rodgers has taken his game to new heights, and I think the player himself believes Celtic can develop him further.
When he eventually does leave, it will be to the right club.
So, this is a balancing act for everyone involved. I think Celtic will probably have told interested parties they need to come to the table with the proper bid within a specified timeframe, or we’ll have to declare that Matt is not for sale in this window.
At this moment, it’s been a reasonably revenue-neutral transfer window, so there’s more money to spend on bringing players to the club.
There will be no excuses if we don’t bring in the players we need.
But we are ever-conscious of the need not to overextend ourselves.
This is why we negotiated a cheaper deal for Bernardo, and why we initially tried to get Adam Idah for a lower price than Norwich were willing to accept.
The money we saved on Bernardo was spent on Idah anyway, slightly offset by the sales of players like Haksabanovic, Bosun Lawal and Oh Hyeon-gyu.
We’re still chasing a defender, but we’ll have to move at least one of last season’s signings out before we can get that deal done.
The manager has clearly stated that we need to sign a third striker, a young player with a development profile who can act as a backup while we turn him into the real deal.
And of course, we need to resolve the thorny issue of the left-back in this transfer cycle. We expect that deal to be done, along with the defender and the striker.
But the issue with the midfield remains.
If we lose Matt O’Riley, we lose one of our best attacking players, and he will need to be replaced. The fee we receive will allow us to pursue a certain standard of player who might otherwise be out of reach, especially in a window where we’ve already broken the club transfer record.
For everyone’s sake, we need to be careful and think strategically. This means we either get it done quickly, or we don’t do it in this window at all.
In my opinion we should take the gamble and sign Matt’s replacement now. If Matt stays we have another midfielder to fit into the side and another wage to live with. However it also gives the Matt’s transfer saga longer to run and it let’s would be suitors know we are in a good position to hold out for what he’s worth. It also means we will not be caught with our knickers down if we do lose him at the last minute. We can afford the gamble so let’s do it.
There is also the circa 10 million we recieved for Abada which should surely be added to our summer net spend seeing as he was sold in March or April?
Trouble is the board aren’t known for strategic thinking. If a late bid of £25m comes in they are liable to accept it, no matter the consequences.
If we buy another young midfielder now, eg Engels, and Matt stays another year, we have that year to nurture his replacement while in the door, just like Schmeichel/Sinisalo. That’s a win-win.
Matt O’Reilly should not be sold in this transfer window. We’re trying to build a team not remove key bricks from the structure. Forget the money. We don’t spend it anyway. And it’s still money in hand if he’s our player, until next season at least.
Let’s have a crack at this new format CL without one hand tied behind our back for a change.
Because we are a football club, not a business plaything of Dermot and co. HH
Great comment Bunter. I pointed out on here and elsewhere that we should now have passed the point of selling MOR or Reo in this window and if we have to offer them higher salary for a year or so to keep them ‘onside’, that’s fine.
Matt seems very level-headed and I’m confident Brendan and him will already know the outcome. If Lawwell wants to grab more cash if it’s offered tell him where to go. One thing’s for sure, our supporters will back Matt and Brendan all the way and offer the fat slug an easy exit from Paradise.
The board and Rodgers are already showing body language that he is off. Fully expect him to be away soon. Such a shame as well as he is a player that we can build something around.
And as usual the board will say the money was spent on Bernardo and Idah. We may bring in another project (Like Bernardo and Idah) , possibly a journeyman loan but I thinks that will be it.
O’Riley’s price will only rise, hope we keep him.
Keep Matt dump the offers, but this won’t be posted. I was shut off from your website, because I said we are a racist club, because of the abuse we gave to Abada. You small minded person.
Martin. Wtf are you drinkin/smokin pal.
I don’t recall any abuse being directed at Abada.by any celtic supporter that I know.
If you bot blocked fir a while on this site, it’s probably cos you come across as dick possibly a wee ragin hun
Would hope Matt remains at celtic this window, everyone seems to want to see him sold now.
If and when he does leave I think he’ll decide what club it is he leaves for, and the sale price should be for what an exceptional player should be sold for.
Paragraph II (Two) – “And if the media is correct” –
When the hell is that then…
The Twelfth of NEVER !!!
Even from an unselfish point of view , Matt can only improve further at Celtic. He needs another season or risks being a benchwarmer elsewhere which won’t go his confidence one bit of good
What gets me is the apparent interchangeability of options here for MOR, based on who bids how much. He might not want to go to England or Italy and be holding out for a team in Spain – who knows?
As a club we should be paying him what he is worth to us and (within reason) helping him find his next career step and if that means a lower transfer fee now with a sell-on the so be it. I believe that would enhance our reputation as a club where players can develop their careers.
I expect the conversation’s already been had between BR and Matt. ‘If a club that meets your ambition comes in and that club is prepared to pay the minimum board accepted price then the choice to stay or go is yours son. If you don’t want to go to that club then say no and stay for another season and show your wares on the CL stage’.
That’s how it should go and I think BR has the man management and integrity and trust between him and Matt to have laid that out on the table for him. As time goes by I’m inclined to believe the bhoy may well stay at least another year
If the board are serious going forward, why don’t they pay Matt O’Rielly what he wants instead of trying to replace him. What a statement that would make and this would most definitely create a bit more trust in the Celtic fan, it certainly would me. This would give us a better chance of getting into the knockout stages of the Champions league and it would give the club further money getting that far. Strengthen the side in this window and keep the guy. It’s a win win scenario because Matt O’Rielly’s price will only continue to rise and the board will still get their money, it makes sense to me
Scottish co-efficient is as low as 16 now, that would mean around 3 qualifiers for champs league..!! We need co-efficiency at around 10 for auto spot , we can spend to improve our score BUT there is zero chance even if we spent all our savings we couldn’t reach that goal. Like it, or loath it…those savings in the bank are going to be crucial in the long term to keep us competitive. Stop worrying about short term problems, , it’s long term that saves you
Matt will be with us on champions league