Celtic’s situation with Matt O’Riley changed after Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners refused to train with his club ahead of a huge Super Cup tie against Real Madrid.
The Dutchman wants a move to Juventus and Atalanta might have to replace him quickly, turning their eyes back to Celtic.
Matt O’Riley has, for weeks, been linked with Atalanta and the Celtic player who be one way to replace Koopmeiners.
Tuttomercatoweb have reported today that O’Riley is willing to move to Atalanta and there is a ‘basic agreement’ in place with the Bergamo-based club.
In-depth contact took place between Celtic and La Dea recently and while O’Riley currently intends to wait for the Atalanta move, negotiating with the Hoops is a problem for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.
Celtic want €27m and bonuses of €2m in the deal and are not backing down. There is ‘cautious optimism’ from La Dea to complete the deal, even though it may not happen before Koopmeiners’ potential exit.
There was talk of interest from Brighton, but the Italian media believes O’Riley only wants to join Atalanta. There may be some bias in that belief.
Celtic’s current demand is deemed ‘excessive’ and Atalanta would only want to complete a deal on lower terms. Therefore, if Brighton meet the asking price, and have an offer accepted, it’s hard to see O’Riley turning them down.
Atalanta simply need to go higher here, and stop trying to play so cooly through the situation.
