Celtic Big Move as new midfield target amid O’Riley interest

Celtic have identified a potential new signing this summer as they look to bolster their ranks ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season, but may only make the move should talisman Matt O’Riley depart the club before the transfer deadline.

O’Riley a man in demand

After an excellent season with Celtic that saw him scoop Celtic’s Player of the Year, the Player’s Player of the Year and the club’s Young Player of the Year, Matt O’Riley may have played his last competitive match for Celtic amid increasing interest from across Europe.

The Danish midfielder finished second only to Lawrence Shankland in the Premiership goalscoring charts, while no one could match his 13 assists across the season, with five more coming across other competitions.

Atletico Madrid had an offer turned down for the 23-year-old in January, and Europa League winners Atalanta have seen three turned down this summer as they push to land him as a replacement for the seemingly outgoing Teun Koopmeiners.

Quizzed on O’Riley’s Parkhead future, Brendan Rodgers admitted that he was quite relaxed about the situation, but that “every player has a value” in a hint that O’Riley could well leave this summer.

“There’s no update, fairly relaxed,” Rodgers told a news conference. “He knows the privilege it is to play for Celtic. Celtic is a club where you can move on but you don’t have to and it’s a very difficult club to move on from.

“Naturally, with the wages that are on offer for players, that makes it a real challenge for Celtic to compete at that level. He knows what he has here. We’re all quite relaxed with it. Every player has a value, we know that.”

Now, Celtic have identified a potential replacement in midfield for their talisman.

Celtic eye up £6,000-a-week midfielder

That comes in the shape of former Manchester City academy graduate Shea Charles, who moved to Southampton 12 months ago in a deal worth £15m. The 20-year-old, who takes home £6,000 a week on the South Coast, made 38 appearances in his debut season for the Saints, including 32 in the Championship.

He is considered an excellent prospect, with Pep Guardiola dubbing him “so good” when making his Manchester City debut at the end of the 2022-23 season.

“Shea Charles against this team with top, top strikers, fast and strong, it’s not the easiest debut”, the Cityzens head coach explained. “We know him, he trains quite regularly with us, he’s so good, so composed.”

Now, The Sun claim that Celtic are keen on the midfielder, who has appeared 17 times for Northern Ireland, and add that they could even look to land Charles on loan with an option to buy. An alternative could be to add him as part of any deal for O’Riley, with Southampton having already seen one bid rejected for the midfielder according to the report.