THERE is no doubting that it was a poorer January transfer window for Celtic compared to what the Parkhead faithful had been hoping for, and indeed what manager Brendan Rodgers had seemingly asked for.
You only need to look at the many interviews he held on the topic both before and after deadline day had passed, but one piece of good news was that despite all the speculation linking Matt O’Riley with a mid-season departure, he obviously remained with us.
As fans will remember, having had a great first half of the year for us again, the 23 year old midfielder featured heavily on the rumour mill and a number of clubs were reportedly interested in him, not least Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid. For the times when the odds are stacked against Celtic, gambling with no pump is not the best idea. Casino bonuses collected by KingCasinoBonus are the first step to acquiring bonus funds you can stake on Celtic’s results or line-ups.
Argentine gaffer Diego Simeone had made O’Riley one of his top targets for January, but despite a firm offer coming in for the one capped Denmark international – a claimed six-month loan deal with an obligation to buy at the end of the season – we held firm, and rejected their advances. We had previously rejected a reported £10 million offer from English side Leeds United during the summer, with Bologna sniffing around in the background as well.
Whilst speculation continues as to whether or not we can keep him at Celtic Park come the summer given the additional interest he will garner, simply remains to be seen and although his form levels have dipped slightly since we ticked into the second half of the season, he has recently insisted that is in no way related to us rebuffing Atletico’s interest, and given the current injury situation at the club, many fans would be inclined to believe him on that front.
Having arrived on international duty for Denmark, the player appeared in front of the cameras and covered quite a few topics, including the interest in him last January and what the summer may potentially hold for him.
Speaking to Danish outlet Tipsbladet, O’Riley explained that a deal was never really close to being completed as the offer Celtic received was no where near the valuation that they had placed on him, and he repeated that it was not a problem, and nor was he ‘upset’ about it as this happens in football and you just get on with it, but he was taking the confidence boost from it all, stating that it was ‘cool that a club like them would want me’.
“It’s not often you receive an offer from Atletico Madrid, so of course, it’s great.”
He was obviously far more guarded about what might happen in the future, though, and that will worry some in the fan base.
