How Celtic’s O’Riley stance could drag Reo Hatate into Brighton’s reckoning

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The Celtic Star

·6 August 2024

How Celtic’s O’Riley stance could drag Reo Hatate into Brighton’s reckoning

The Matt O’Riley summer transfer from Celtic rumbles on with contrasting reports on Brighton’s position this morning. Here’s how it might all play out and a sensible suggestion that Celtic would never consider…

Queen s Park v Celtic – Matt O’Riley during the pre-season friendly match at The City Stadium, on Wednesday July 10, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

Depending on which red top you choose to believe, either Brighton are according to Scottish Sun, set to smash the Scottish transfer record (£25m) in order to put them at the front of the queue to sign Matt O’Riley from Celtic or if you go with Daily Record Brighton join other bidders such as Southampton and Atalanta in being reluctant to meet Celtic’s expectations.

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It’s only 6 August so there is still plenty of time and Celtic will be happy to sit this out to the end of the month, as only they know the full list of clubs who have been asked to be updated on any developments.

Conor Gallagher celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on May 05, 2024 . (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

The Chelsea sale of Conor Gallagher should be concluded over the next 24 hours if you accept Fabrizio Romano’s assessment so that might see them make their move for O’Riley, should their reported transfer interest in the Celtic star midfielder be accurate.

Atalanta meanwhile have gone quiet after their early doors strategy of securing O’Riley on the cheap seems to have failed. Will they come back in as the only side outside of Celtic who can offer the player Champions League football next season? But they are still £10m short and probably that is that from their point of view.

John Harrison, Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton before the UEFA Champions League Match between Celtic and Paris Saint Germain at Celtic Park on September 12, 2017. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Chris Sutton yesterday stated that O’Riley should be looking at a better move than to Brighton, with all due respect etc. You can throw Southampton into that mix too, regardless of how much that always upsets their supporters when we mention this. Then there’s Leicester City and West Ham who were mentioned yesterday, the latter being in the news for mortgaging future TV money to fund their current operation. That’s a risky business.

Staying at Celtic is not really an option, given the Celtic Board have let it be known that they have a valuation that has to be met. In football terms that’s a For Sale sign. If it’s about the player wanting a bigger pay packet elsewhere then every club linked with Matt O’Riley so far will be able to deliver that.

Matt O’Riley controls the ball during the Celtic vs St Mirren Cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park on May 20, 2023 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Here’s a thought. Rather than sell now, why not pay O’Riley to stay for an extra year then sell him next summer after he’s had the chance to play in the Champions League this season, and in all likelihood increase his value? Let’s say Celtic sell him this summer to Brighton for £25m. Compare that to giving O’Riley a million or two, seeing him improve our chances in the Champions League under our elite manager Brendan Rodgers, then sell him for £30m or more next summer to a bigger club than Brighton and one that will keep O’Riley playing at Champions League level.

Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie. Photo: Richard Lee/Sportimage

Celtic have sold midfielders to South Coast English clubs before but neither Stuart Armstrong or Ryan Christie come anywhere close to matching Matt O’Riley’s quality of potential. Chris Sutton is spot on, he should be aiming much higher and staying at Celtic for another season might just be the way to get to where he should be moving to.

Of course the worrying thing about Brighton missing out on Matt O’Riley could be they turn their attention to Reo Hatate, who perhaps is only out of the picture at the moment, in terms of a big money transfer from Celtic, because of his horrendous run of injuries last season. Now that he’s fit and back on top form it’s only a matter of time before Hatate, who has made no secret of his desire to play in a bigger league, is away.

Another point, Celtic waiting until the last days of the transfer window to maximise the fee, has one major drawback. There’s no time to sign a replacement. Maybe that’s already been done with the arrival of Paulo Bernardo last week?

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