Celtic set to reject Atletico loan offer for O’riley

Celtic are set to turn down an offer from Atletico Madrid for midfielder Matt O’riley.

News broke yesterday that the La Liga side had submitted a bid to take the 23-yearold on loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season.

The Spaniards would pay an initial loan fee before stumping up further payments which would see the total amount rise to £20 million, according to figures published yesterday.

Celtic are preparing to turn down the proposal but are braced for further bids before the January transfer deadline with Inter Milan and Girona also said to be interested.

O'riley has been in exceptional form for Celtic this season, scoring 10 goals and contributing 12 assists in all competitions, including eye catching performance sin the Champions League. He also earned his first senior cap for Denmark in November and is pushing for a callup to their Euro 2024 squad this summer.

Celtic are under no pressure to sell O'riley in the current window having tied the player, who was signed from MKD ons for £1.5 min January 2022, to a new four-year contract last year.

Boss Brendan Rodgers has made it clear he wants to keep his star midfielder for the title run-in as he bids to strengthen his squad before the February 1 deadline.

Meanwhile, Celtic duo Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda saw their involvement in the Asian Cup extended as they helped Japan into the last 16 with a 3-1 win over Indonesia. Hatate started the match while Maeda came off the bench for the final 20 minutes as Japan progressed as group runners-up behind Iraq.