Leeds bid £10m and now team-mate thinks ‘outstanding’ player is worth £50m

Follow us on Google Discover

Celtic team-mate Alistair Johnston believes Champions League star Matt O’Riley is now worth at least £40 million more than the bid Leeds United made for him during the summer transfer window. 

As Celtic went toe-to-toe with seasoned European giants Atletico Madrid at Parkhead on Wednesday night, a player the Glaswegians snapped up in a bargain deal from MK Dons a year-and-a-half ago certainly looked more like a £50 million midfielder than a £10 million one. 

Matt O’Riley’s ‘beautiful’ assist for Kyogo Furuhashi’s early opener was one some of the competition’s finest playmakers would have been proud of, from Kevin de Bruyne from Luka Modric. A sublime first-time through ball bisecting the Atletico defence and making Kyogo’s eventual finish something of a formality. 

That gorgeous set-up was the icing on top of a very tasty performance from a man who proved beyond all doubt that he belongs at such an exalted stage. O’Riley the beating heart of almost everything good Celtic did against Diego Simeone’s battle-hardened visitors. 

Matt O’Riley Celtic’s Champions League maestro

It was a performance which made the £10 million bid submitted by Leeds United in August look ambitious in the extreme (Sky Sports). Hoops right-back Johnston is certainly of the opinion, responding to Fabrizio Romano on Instagram, that the bidding for O’Riley’s signature should start at £50 million these days.

“(O’Riley may be) one of the next ones to go,” Ibrox legend Kris Boyd tells Sky Sports, putting his Rangers allegiances to one side in praise of Celtic’s Danish string-puller. “In terms of big money.

“You could sit and watch Matt O’Riley play football all day. He’s a top-class player. He glides about the pitch and Brendan Rodgers has obviously asked him to get forward more this season. He is reaping the benefits of that.

“Outstanding.” 

Six goals and four assists now

O’Riley, once of Fulham, now has 10 goal contributions in just 13 games this season. Taking his game to a new level since Brendan Rodgers replaced Ange Postecoglou in the Celtic dugout.