Chelsea have joined the list of suitors interested in Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley.
The Blues have identified O’Riley as a potential replacement for Conor Gallagher, and talkSPORT understands he remains open to signing a new deal despite a £33million bid from Atletico Madrid being accepted.
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If the Chelsea academy product leaves, his transfer fee could be used to bring in O’Riley – who is valued at £20million.
Celtic have already snubbed offers for the London-born star.
That includes a £14million bid from Southampton ahead of their return to the Premier League.
Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Crystal Palace and Brighton are also keen on the 23-year-old, as well as Serie A side Atalanta.
He is only keen on accepting a move that guarantees regular game time.
Chelsea may have to offer more than £20milion plus extras to persuade Celtic.
Speaking to Sky Sports about O’Riley, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said: “It’s been actually straight forward with Matt because he’s such a great professional. The challenge for teams coming to a club like Celtic is they sometimes can place their value on the league and not the player.
“Obviously, there are riches in other leagues much greater than ours that allows players to go and improve their conditions for their life, we all understand that
“What’s important for me is if a player does leave here they pay the value for the player and that isn’t something that always happens.
“No player will leave here unless it’s for the right valuation and at this moment in time there’s been no team that’s been anywhere near that.”
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O’Riley made appearances for England at youth level, but has since represented Denmark due to his Danish mum.
He began his senior career with Fulham before moving to MK Dons in 2021.
A year later he joined Celtic for £1.5million after the Hoops met his release clause.
He’s earned experience in the Champions League, making 121 appearances in total.
O’Riley has scored 27 goals and bagged 34 assists in that time.
He’s also won three Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and the Scottish League Cup.
News Summary:
- ‘Great professional’ – Celtic star targeted by Chelsea as Blues search for Conor Gallagher replacement
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