Matt O'Riley

Hard for me to understand why someone might choose Southampton over Atletico Madrid; but nothing surprises me with the EPL's money anymore, so I can definitely see this happening.

 

I am highly confident that we will get around 30m and spend around 250k.

 

Suppose it’s a bit like VVD, prove yourself there and a bigger EPL comes for you. Don’t think the top 10 down there trust good performers in our league, they wait to see what they do in their league first.

 

£20m is an insult.

 

It certainly is. Especially when you see Elliot Anderson going for £35M(even though that's a bit of financial jiggery-pokery to get around the FFP rules). Every other club in the world adds at least another £10M onto a players value when it's a EPL club who wants them and we should be no different. Matt O'Riley to an English team should be £30M minimum. To Atletico Madrid I would accept between £20-25M depending on add-ons.

 

Celtic said 35m then Southampton bid 20m. Cheeky *. I’d refuse to entertain them at all after that

 

Would it surprise you if Celtic took £20m? Wouldn't surprise me. Southampton well within their rights to try their luck.

 

Newcastle United and West Ham are among the Premier League clubs joining the race to sign Celtic star Matt O’Riley, sources have told Football Insider.

It has been widely reported that newly-promoted Southampton are preparing a bid for the 23-year-old midfielder

Brighton and Chelsea also hold a keen interest in the Denmark international, who missed out on a call-up for the European Championships in Germany.

Celtic are expecting several offers for the midfield ace this summer, and sources have told Football Insider that they are set to hold out for at least £25million


The Hoops are reluctant to part with the Fulham academy graduate but they are aware interest is mounting and are hoping for a Premier League bidding war


Interest in O’Riley from top-flight English clubs is expected to mount throughout July.



The Danish ace hit 19 goals and contributed 18 assists across 49 appearances in the 2023-24 campaign, with 43 of those outings coming as part of the starting lineup.

O’Riley, who joined Celtic from MK Dons in 2022, is under contract at Parkhead until May 2027


The left-footer has previously worked with Southampton boss Russell Martin in Milton Keynes, and the Saints are keen to reunite the pair after securing promotion last term.

Meanwhile, established top-flight quartet Newcastle, West Ham, Brighton and Chelsea are keen to add O’Riley’s talent as they bid for top-six finishes in the 2024-25 campaign

 

Cmon Chelsea, give us one of this £40 mil’s you have down the back of the sofa

 

All clubs test the water. Even if you were willing to pay £30m you'd go in low and see what you can get.

 

Southampton need to offer a good fee and get the deal over the line quickly.

If they mess around and lowball they will be outbid by a bigger club soon enough.

 

If it's Southampton, which I highly doubt, we need a massive sell on clause because he's not staying there for long.

But it doesn't matter, because he's not loving to Southampton.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if he does, to be honest.

I still think that if there are bids that have been accepted and there is an offer to go abroad, he will do. I'm not convinced he would want to go to the Premier League but if Southampton are the only club willing to match our price and it's either the lower end of the Premier League or Celtic, I think he moves to be honest.

 

Here’s the truth of the matter

Our players don’t go to Atletico Madrid, Inter or any major European team etc. They go to middle of the road EPL/european teams.

Mind when all the same big teams were in for Dembele, Edouard, Van Dijk, Forster etc. But where do they end up?

It just doesn’t happen I’m afraid to say and I’ll eat my hat if we get 30m+.

 

I get that but still think they’re cheeky *

 

I think £30m is a fair price all round given his age and potential to improve and we need to start being more ruthless with this kind of thing, and that includes the other way when buying players. Pay the going rate and take the risks (crazy suggestion to our board I know) but if we want to level up and do what the likes of Ajax have done in the past, Brighton as an example and the Portuguese clubs then we need to be maximising our deals.

* Oli McBurnie went for £25m. If EPL comes calling then we should 100% go high from the off.

 

20 million doesn’t even merit a response Southampton so * wise up.

 

Bingo! The only way we're getting close to £30m is if there's a bidding war and I just don't see that happening over MOR. He is a good player but I can't see any great clamour to get him in among the clubs that have £30m+ to shell out on a single player. He just wouldn't improve them sufficiently to pay over the odds.

That leaves you with less established PL clubs and most have their financial limits. £30m would be a record-breaking fee for a club like Southampton as well as for Celtic as a selling club, so that's just as unlikely to occur. £25m with addons is where it'll probably end up. You can discuss the fees that get exchanged for English players down south but that's largely irrelevant to the market rate for Scotland's top players.

I think you need to look at the player's previous preferences as well. He left Fulham to get full-time football in a lower division. I could see him prefer being a starter at Southampton than a benchwarmer at a bigger club.

 

If Southampton have bid £20m, I think that's great!

It gives us an opportunity to tell them to go and * themselves! When you've got * like Minteh and Archie Gray moving for £35m and near £50m respectively, then we need to be at aiming for AT LEAST somewhere in the bracket of the former.