Southampton’s bid to bring Celtic star Matt O’Riley has been up and down throughout the transfer market, with the Saints persisting in their efforts to land the Denmark international despite interest coming and going from other clubs throughout the Premier League.
And they could be ready to steal a march in their move for the midfielder, with Radio Solent’s Adam Blackmore telling BBC Radio that O’Riley is ‘happy’ to come to the Saints ahead of a busy year in the top-flight.
O’Riley was subject to offers and interest from European giants Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan in January, and whilst nothing came to fruition, that hasn’t seen interest wane in his talents in the summer.
Serie A side Atalanta have made offers for him throughout the summer as they prepare for the exit of Teun Koopmeiners, before Southampton lodged a bid and Leicester City, West Ham United and Brighton have noted their interest in the £25m-rated star. But Blackmore believes that O’Riley could be set for a move to the south coast, claiming that he is ‘happy’ to move to the south coast.
O’Riley Happy to Move to Celtic
The Denmark star could be on his way to the Premier League
Speaking to BBC Radio, Blackmore stated that Celtic needed to ‘hurry up’ and make their minds up over O’Riley’s exit – with the midfielder happy to move down south. He said:
“The [Fabio] Carvalho and O’Riley thing, I think Saints would like both and I think maybe Brighton are interested in O’Riley.
“[But] I think O’Riley is happy to come to Saints and I think Celtic need to get on with it.”
O’Riley enjoyed a superb year for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, scoring 18 goals and registering 13 assists in a hugely successful season for the club as they registered a domestic double by winning the league title and the Scottish Cup in a great start to life for Brendan Rodgers in his second spell in Glasgow.
| Matt O’Riley’s Scottish Premiership statistics – Celtic squad ranking | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stats | Output | Squad rank |
| Appearances | 37 | =2nd |
| Goals | 18 | 1st |
| Assists | 13 | 1st |
| Shots Per Game | 2.9 | 1st |
| Key Passes Per Game | 2.5 | 1st |
| Match rating | 7.74 | 1st |
And alongside three assists in just six Champions League games for a side that were largely under the cosh, O’Riley has shown that he can do it on the big stage even when on the back foot.
Southampton are in need of a creative force this summer. David Brooks, Joe Rothwell and Ryan Fraser’s loan spells have all expired and Stuart Armstrong left the club on a free transfer, which has hugely decimated their playmaking options.
Despite re-signing Flynn Downes on a permanent transfer from West Ham United to the tune of £18million, alongside capturing an emotional return for Adam Lallana after a decade of hiatus for the homegrown star, it left just Joe Aribo, Carlos Alcaraz and Will Smallbone as their only other creative midfield options and with Russell Martin preferring to play exciting, attacking football, O’Riley would be the final piece in the jigsaw with the club looking to stay up come the end of next season.
At just 23 years of age, the midfielder has plenty of progressing to do and having excelled in front of goal for the Hoops, the natural progression line from Southampton to Celtic – that Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster, Virgil Van Dijk and Armstrong have followed – would be reborn with his arrival.
