Leeds United may make one more Matt O’Riley bid as Celtic face transfer disaster
Leeds United may make one final bid for Celtic playmaker Matt O’Riley ahead of the September 1 deadline, according to Dean Jones.
The former Eurosport journalist insisted that it would be a “disaster” for Celtic to lose the Danish youth international, with the Whites sniffing around for the past week.
It comes after Sky Sports reported on 31 August that Leeds had tabled an initial £10million offer, which was rejected by the Scottish champions.
Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones said: “The offer for Matt O’Riley from Leeds just doesn’t seem close to being tempting.
“He’s a player worth a lot more than £10m to them right now, especially as they re-stabilise for this season and look for a player that can give them drive. He’s 22, starts every week, it would be a disaster to lose him at this late stage of the window.
“I don’t mind Leeds trying their luck because I think it’s actually pretty good profiling in terms of finding a player that can help get them out of the division.
“But I don’t see they are going to get him with that kind of offer. They’ve been digging into this for a week, so maybe they’ll return one more time. Celtic will just hope this hasn’t unsettled him and gets him thinking about possibilities back in England right now.”
Tempter.
Leeds would likely need to go to £15million and maybe beyond to get this one done, and that would be another massive statement of intent.
After spending around £10million on Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev on Thursday 31 August, this would be the aggressive window that the 49ers promised.
The pessimist in us does start to feel that this big-money spending could see one of our stars such as Luis Sinisterra leave today, but would moves like this cover that loss?
Daniel Farke has made his midfield a huge priority and given that most of his attacking stars have stuck around so far with the addition of Joel Piroe on top, this would be sensational to add on top.
This is certainly one to watch as the deadline ticks closer, with not many other names currently doing the rounds for potential incomings at Elland Road.
O’Riley is clearly the one they want.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites have received a £20m bid for one star from a Premier League club