Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has addressed the growing speculation surrounding midfielder Matt O'Riley, particularly in light of similar players from other leagues fetching transfer fees of up to £30 million.
O'Riley, who has been a standout performer for the Hoops since arriving from MK Dons two-and-a-half years ago, is attracting attention from clubs across Europe, most notably Atalanta in Serie A and Southampton, who have recently been promoted into the English Premier League.
Both clubs have tabled offers, yet have come nowhere near Celtic's valuation. While Roma, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are believed to be monitoring the situation.
But Rodgers remains confident that the young talent will not be adversely affected by the ongoing rumours and has backed the 23-year-old to maintain his consistently high standards as Celtic get their Scottish Premiership title defence underway against Kilmarnock this weekend.
"I am very confident it won't affect him," the Celtic boss clarified.
"It is not easy that is the reality of it but he is the ultimate professional. He knows he is in a good place here.
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"I have said it before Celtic is a place where you can leave but you don't have to. I think he has seen over the last three years and the last season that he had in particular what it has given him and the progress he has made in his career.
"He is 23 and if he plays to 35 he has another 12 years left in his career. He has invested his time in his development and it is clear he will attract attention.”
The transfer offers have been in the region of £15m and Rodgers believes if the Denmark internationalist was piling his trade elsewhere while performing this well, clubs would be more willing to pay double what’s being suggested.
He continued: "I said during the week and it is not just for Celtic but the Scottish game in general for so long the price that has been set on a player has been because of the league and having worked down south for many years and knowing the finances that are involved and the level of players sometimes the league that attracts the fee and gets the offers.
"It won't happen in this case. You pay for the player and if you want the player you'll pay for him. I have known young guys in this window who have gone for £20-30 million pounds and we get offers in for the likes of Matt that are with the greatest of respect nowhere near that. We don't have to sell.
"The club does not need to sell but we respect that there will be a point in a young player's career at this club that he may for financial reasons and conditions in his life be able to improve that three or four times over.
"There still has to be a value for the player and not just the league. For us, he is a very valuable player and until that changes I have every faith in Matt. His focus, and his mentality and you saw it in pre-season with his performances were consistently very high. He looks to be in a great place alongside the other players."
