Despite rumours of moves elsewhere Matt O’Riley is flying westbound today with his Celtic team-mates, not to Italy to complete a move to Juventus or Atalanta.
It would be a brave fan that would bet on the former Fulham midfielder being a Celtic player at the start of September but as the hoops prepare for a demanding three match trip to the USA O’Riley is certainly on board.
After a well earned break following an outstanding season that saw him earn his first full cap for Denmark O’Riley was back in action for Celtic last week, captaining the side during the 6-4 win over Queens Park at the City Stadium.
Celtic turned down a bid from Atletico Madrid in January for the midfielder, Atalanta recently received the same treatment with Juventus the latest big name club to be linked with a move for O’Riley.
Matt is still a bhoy.https://t.co/j4m6Z3GFDL
— Celtic365 (@videocelts) July 16, 2024
Viljami Sinisalo was the only new signing checking in for the flight this morning with the formalities of his move from Aston Villa expected to be announced later today.
Less than a month after Scotland’s elimination from the European Championships Callum McGregor was back in club colours ahead of another long and demanding club season that sees Celtic take part in the new look Champions League which guarantees at least eight matches against eight different opponents.
Transfer business has been frustratingly slow but there are reasonable expectations that Kasper Schmeichel and Paulo Bernardo will soon be flying out and involved in the weekend match against DC United.
Further matches against Manchester City and Chelsea will fully test the Celtic squad which came up well short of the standards required in last season’s Champions League group stage.
If a bid around £25m arrives for O’Riley it is likely that Celtic will sit down to negotiate a deal with the expectations of the fans being to see the bulk of that invested in first team ready players rather than another batch of projects.
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