Inter Milan will sign Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley in January.
The Serie A club are in a position to offer a first loan until the end of the season with the responsibility of buying him this summer.
Inter are among a growing number of big clubs sending scouts to keep an eye on O’Riley, amid a build-up of his point of functionality this season.
Aston Villa and West Ham have been following him recently, as have PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid, and all of those clubs have been present at his Champions League matches, in which he has provided 3 assists.
Inter are discussing whether to steal a march on potential rivals by making a move when the January transfer window begins, but it would take a record fee for Celtic to agree to any deal.
Their current record sale is around £25m for Jota from Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad last summer, which trumped the £23m they earned from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney in 2019.
Ahead of the Scottish Premiership game against Livingston, Brendan Rodgers insisted he will continue to add to his squad in January.
“I don’t have anything for any of the players.
“I’m delighted for Matt that he’s made a fantastic step forward this season as a Celtic player and in his career.
“It shows that focus and mentality in education and the confidence that he brings to the game, he’ll capture the interest of the teams.
“I’m not afraid, he’s a smart guy and he works really hard and when you do that, you’ll be interested.
“At the moment he’s very focused on his performance with Celtic and until half-time.
“There’s still a long way to go. We’ve been smart and then last week we weren’t smart enough, I can’t be clearer about that.
“We want to add to the squad rather than take any away and the likes of Matt is a very important player for us.
O’Riley recently made his debut for the Denmark national team. In his first 24 games of the season in all competitions, he scored nine goals and 8 assists.
In September, the 23-year-old put an end to the contractual hypothesis by reaching a new agreement with Celtic.
O’Riley committed his future until 2027 after the club turned down a £10m bid from Leeds United in the summer.
Speaking after Celtic’s 2-1 win at Hearts in October, Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd said O’Riley would be “one of the next to go through in terms of money”:
“Celtic have a knack for attracting players, giving them a platform to pass and play. Then they move them to make a lot of money.
“Matt O’Riley will be one of the next ones to go in terms of big money.
“Last season everyone was very happy with his assists, and rightly so, but there were doubts about his ability to score goals. Now he’s doing it.
“You can just watch Matt O’Riley play football all day. He’s a very level-headed player. He glides down the pitch and Brendan Rodgers has clearly asked him to go further this season. He’s reaping the rewards, the gains. “
The move-in window opens on Monday, January 1, 2024 and will be at 11 p. m. Thursday, February 1, 2024.
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