Over the past year, Celtic has drawn interest from teams in both the United Kingdom and Europe for Matt O’Riley. However, some of the biggest teams on the continent have had their approaches turned down. This has happened once more with Italian team Atalanta, as reported by Sky Sports, who claims that the Hoops turned down an offer to sign their star player.
O’Riley just signed a low-cost £1.5 million contract with Celtic in January 2022, coming from English third-tier team MK Dons. However, he made an immediate impact in the first squad and hasn’t looked back, winning three Scottish Premiership titles and making his international debut for Denmark. And because of that, the master has drawn interest from teams all over the continent; the most recent to approach the Hoops for his services with a rumored £17 million offer. Matt O’Riley’s bid for Atlanta Turned down by Celtic
The midfield player’s sophisticated style has piqued the interest of many in Europe.
According to a report from Sky Sports, Atalanta is likely to submit a second bid for the 23-year-old Denmark international after Celtic rejected their initial offer for their star player, O’Riley.
Over the course of the transfer window, O’Riley has been pursued by clubs all over Europe. Leicester City and Southampton have both expressed interest in signing the former MK Dons star, but they have been put on hold for the time being by Brendan Rodgers’ men, who are reportedly seeking a £50 million transfer fee.
While Inter Milan has long coveted his signing, Atletico Madrid has made an unsuccessful attempt for his services back in January; the Spanish team has not yet made a move for his assistance.
O’Riley, who led Celtic to victory in the Scottish Premiership this season with 18 goals and 13 assists from the midfield, is thought to be worth a record club sale of £25 million, which is currently held by the departures of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal and Jota to Al-Ittihad.
Although Celtic would be sad to see their star player leave the team, O’Riley does have three years left on his contract, which gives them leverage in negotiations. A fee approaching £50 million would be unprecedented for any Scottish Premiership club and would allow Celtic to bolster multiple areas.
Atlanta Might Be O’Riley’s Ideal Club
The Italian club would be appropriate for the after finishing fourth in the previous season, Atalanta will enter the Champions League the following year. However, they would have qualified regardless because they defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final in Dublin. They were the only team to defeat Xabi Alonso’s team in all competitions last year, winning 3-0 in Ireland behind a hat-trick from Ademola Lookman.
They were an uninspired Serie A team for most of the century, but now they are among the most forward-thinking teams in Europe. Aside from a few stints in the European Cup Winners’ Cup during the 1960s and 1980s, Atalanta’s rise to prominence in Europe under manager Gian Piero Gasperini began in 2017.
They did make it to the Champions League quarterfinals in 2019–20, but they are a team to watch out for after an incredible season in which they eliminated Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool, and Marseille from the competition in the span of three months.
Because of O’Riley’s highly refined playing style—which has earned Rodgers to refer to him as “phenomenally consistent”—he would be Teun Koopmeiners’ obvious successor should he leave for Juventus during the transfer window. As a result, his trip to Italy is definitely worth keeping an eye on.