Southampton are preparing a £20 million offer for Matt O’Riley, The Pitch Prospect has learned.
The Celtic midfielder is being touted as a reinforcement after the Saints were promoted to the Premier League.
2
Russell Martin is keen to add more quality to his team and he knows that O’Riley, who has already played two games for the Danish national team, will give him that opportunity.
The 23-year-old was signed by Martin when he was playing for MK Donsand scored three goals in 23 appearances before Martin moved to Swansea in the summer.
O’Riley scored ten goals in 54 games for MK Dons before joining Celtic for £1.5 million in January 2022.
In a speech in September 2022, Celtic star O’Riley praised former Rangers player Martin highly, saying he had a huge influence on his career: “He had a huge influence on me at MK. He is the first manager who really understood me as a player and, more importantly, as a person.”
He added: “Russell is happy for me. He tries to watch all the games even though he is manager at Swansea.”
Since then, the midfielder has scored 27 goals and provided 34 assists in 121 games for Celtic.
During those two and a half years, O’Riley helped the Bhoys to three Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and a League Cup, as well as making twelve appearances in the Champions League.
Southampton have already been busy this summer and have signed two players before the new season.
2
Adam Lallana arrived on a free transfer after leaving Brighton, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis joined the Blues in a £20m deal sparked by the club’s success in the play-off final against Leeds at Wembley.
The south coast club returns to the Premier League after just one season off, having been relegated in the 2022/23 season.