John Percy released a story in The Telegraph this morning that former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is interested in signing several players for Leicester City this summer, with one of them being Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.
By all accounts, Percy is a knowledgeable reporter and he wouldn’t be reporting on this if there was nothing in it.
He apparently wrote about Rodgers joining Leicester before the SMSM had gotten any wind of it, so it appears he has strong connections inside the club.
Like Juranovic being linked with Atletico, that’s what happens when you have a squad of good young players who are just back off a successful double winning season and playing exciting football, big clubs and clubs with money are going to take notice, that should be expected.
But just like Juranovic, the offer would have to be a huge one for Celtic and Ange to even consider it.
O’Riley did very well after coming in to the club in the January transfer window, and many pundits and Celtic fans alike believe that he is going to have a very strong season for the club, and considering his form in pre-season for far, I agree with them.
I don’t think Celtic will sell anyone of our top players this window. And we have a lot of top players and O’Riley is certainly one of them.
We’ll get rid of the likes of Jullien and Ajeti and so on, fringe players, but I can’t see us selling any of our regular starters.
Ange wants a proper crack at the Champions League. This is going to be his first time in the competition and he wants us to be as strong as possible heading into it to see what we are capable of.
I also don’t think O’Riley would want to leave, at least not right now. He only just joined in January after playing in the lower leagues in England, he is loving every minute at Celtic and he is developing very well.
He is an intelligent lad, he knows this is the best place for him at this stage of his career and he will be extremely excited about the prospect of playing in the Champions League next season.
Plus his best mate Moritz Jenz has just joined the club!
We also need to remember that we don’t need to sell. Yes we have a player trading model in place, but that doesn’t mean that we have to sell every season, especially not when we are guaranteed Champions League income.
Plus, if guys like Juranovic and O’Riley perform well in the Champions League or just in Europe in general, that is going to significantly increase their transfer value.
Yes, these players will eventually leave us, and for big money, but this summer is not the time to say goodbye to any of them.
