With the summer transfer window open, one of the longer running stories on the rumour mill has concerned Serie A side, Atalanta’s, apparent interest in Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley.
It had long been claimed that the 23 year old, two capped Denmark international, had long been one of I Nerazzurri’s top targets for this window, but if the latest reports are to be believed, the club have now abandoned their chase for him as they have apparently ‘lost patience’ with Celtic’s approach to the negotiations and their demands in order to make a deal happen.
It now appears that instead of O’Riley, they have pivoted their attentions to back up option, Serbian international Lazar Samardzic, who currently plies his trade for Udinese. With the domestic Serie A campaign now having kicked off, with some sides having already completed their opening clash, if the negotiations were still basically deadlocked, it makes perfect sense for Atalanta to move on so that they can actually firm up their squad for the season the lies ahead, especially as deadline day is now really nearing.
He may well have been their top choice for the position, but it is strongly reported that they actually made five firm (and improving) offers for his services, with the last being claimed to be in the region of £23 million, but the Parkhead side and current Scottish Premiership Champions were holding out for even more.
£23 million would obviously represent a massive uplift on the initial investment that they made in the player when they signed him from English League One side MK Dons back in January 2022 – his release clause was stated to stand at only £1.5 million.
Given the varying valuations were still too far apart even though Atalanta were offering that kind of profit uplift, it is no wonder that they decided to walk away, as a more well known Italian quantity in Samardzic with his experience of life in the league and the country, would naturally be a cheaper option – at a reported £17 million up front, potentially rising to £23 million if all the various add on clauses actually come into play.
Fans will simply have to see whether or not the Samardzic rumours prove to be true, or whether it is simply a media play to ‘encourage’ the Scottish side to be a little bit more flexible in their approach to a deal as deadline day nears, as there were claims that O’Riley was very interested in an Italian experience, and no club ultimately wants a potentially unhappy player on their hands.
