Leeds United would have to pay record £25+ fee to seal Matt O’Riley transfer
Leeds United underwent a huge summer rebuild under the management of Daniel Farke this season, with plenty of new arrivals at Elland Road.
One area of the pitch that the Whites were particularly keen to strengthen during the transfer window was their midfield with the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev all making the switch to the Championship alongside the emergence of 17-year-old Archie Gray.
However, Farke was keen to add further additions to his squad in the middle of the park with Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley reportedly a target with a £10million bid rejected by Brendan Rodgers’s side late in the window [Anthony Joseph, 6 September].
O’Riley has had an excellent start to the season and was named the man-of-the-match for Celtic’s Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday (25 October) with transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano taking to Twitter to report it would now take a “Scottish record fee for anyone interested” in signing the midfielder.
While the Scottish Premiership is by no means one of the most affluent leagues in the world, the current record fee paid stands at £25million for Jota who departed Celtic Park this summer for Al-Ittihad [Sky Sports], with Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal and Calvin Bassey’s switch to Ajax second and third.
Although Leeds did sign several new players throughout the summer window, they didn’t spend anywhere near that sort of money on a single player, with their most expensive arrival being Joel Piroe from Swansea City for around £12million [Wales Online].
Therefore it seems unlikely that Farke’s side will act again on their interest when the January transfer window rolls around in the next few months, especially considering Leeds’ record arrival Georginio Rutter arrived for a similar fee when the Whites were in the Premier League.
Leeds United have plenty of depth in midfield currently and the quality in Farke’s side has meant that the likes of Gruev and Gray have played limited minutes in the preferred position in recent weeks. Adding O’Riley to that mix would only increase the selection headache the Leeds boss faces.
Maybe this is a deal the Whites could explore should they return to the Premier League at the end of the season, but for now, it feels safe to cross the Danish midfielder off of the January shopping list.
In other Leeds United news, Piroe has admitted that he is learning from Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez to adapt to his new role at Elland Road