Transfer Centre

Celtic 'set asking price for midfielder Matt O'Riley'

By Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter | 27 October 2023

Celtic will reportedly demand a Scottish-record transfer fee for midfielder Matt O'Riley amid interest from a number of clubs in England.

The 22-year-old joined the Hoops from MK Dons for just £1.5m in January 2022 and has since established himself as a star player at Parkhead.

O'Riley has scored 14 goals and registered 20 assists in 85 appearances for Celtic across all competitions, including six goals and four assists in 13 games so far this season.

The Hounslow-born midfielder was recently rewarded for his exceptional start to the new season with a senior call-up to the Denmark national team squad earlier this month – eligible via his mother's side of the family – although he is still waiting to make his debut.

O'Riley most recently put in a man-of-the-match display as Celtic played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday.

Celtic's Matt O'Riley in action with Lazio's Elseid Hysaj on October 4, 2023 © Reuters

Celtic are under no immediate pressure to sell O'Riley as the midfielder put pen to paper on a new four-year contract last month, keeping him tied to Parkhead until the summer of 2027.

However, speculation over a possible exit has been rife for some time, with the midfielder allegedly the subject of a rejected £10m offer from Leeds United in the summer.

TEAMtalk claims that Brentford are the latest club weighing up a January swoop for O'Riley, while the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all previously been credited with an interest.

Should any interested suitors step up their interest in O'Riley, journalist Fabrizio Romano claims that Celtic will demand that they pay a Scottish-record transfer fee for the midfielder.

The current record transfer fee in Scotland stands at the £25m that Celtic received from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney in 2019.

Celtic's Matt O'Riley celebrates scoring their fifth goal on April 9, 2022 © Reuters

After penning his new contract at the end of September, O'Riley suggested that he has no plans to leave Celtic any time soon and does not believe that he can get the enjoyment he has at present playing for the Hoops at any other club.

"It's probably hard to put it into a short sentence but I think everybody knows how much I enjoy playing here, especially at Celtic Park because I don't think you get that anywhere else," O'Riley told Celtic TV.

"I've said before that I'm just really grateful to be a part of a club like this and hopefully we can achieve more good things together.

"I can't express how much I enjoy playing my football here, genuinely. It's really nice to feel part of a family of football. I think that's quite rare, in terms of everything we do on and off the pitch, in terms of community work and charities etc... I think it's unique and to be a part of that is special."

O'Riley is set to be involved in Celtic's matchday squad when Brendan Rodgers's side travel to Easter Road to take on Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.