Celtic’s windfall fades as Roma’s bargain hunter Gasperini eyes Matt O’Riley | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini spent the best part of last summer lowballing Celtic with silly bids for Matt O’Riley, and never quite getting that the Celtic asking price of £25m had to be reached before the Hoops would look to do business…

Matt O’Riley signs for Brighton from Celtic for a fee of £25m. Photo Brighton & Hove Albion FC

Brighton though got the message loud and clear and were delighted to capture the Danish international last August, paying the asking price with various options including a sell-on clause.

Matt though was injured inside ten minutes by a thuggish tackle from a Crawley Town journeyman in a League Cup tie and was thereafter sidelined for several months. The former Celtic Star did make an impact of sorts after that but has never really been happy with the situation at the Premier League club and now looks like he’s going to be on the move again this summer.

Matt O’Riley reacts after a challenge during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Crawley Town at Amex Stadium on August 27, 2024 (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

And with Gian Piero Gasperini now away from Atalanta and in situ in the Italian capital as the new Roma boss, he might just be able to get his way by bringing Matt O’Riley to Italian football at the second time of asking.

Italian outlet il Messaggero is reporting that Roma are interested in moving for O’Riley who is now regarded as not a crucial player for Brighton next season, perhaps as a result of the former Celt speaking out about not being particularly happy at being played out of position.

Gian Piero Gasperini, Head Coach of Atalanta BC looks on prior to the Serie A match between Atalanta BC and Udinese Calcio at Gewiss Stadium on March 04, 2023 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)

As reported previously on The Celtic Star Matt O’Riley said: “I am not completely happy, and I am just giving my opinion. It makes it difficult to show off when you play a position you are not completely happy with. I can play better for the team if I play the number 8 position, but I can play well in other positions.

“You can say it in a way that is not aggressive. If you are honest with another person, you don’t lose anything. The coach can always say he doesn’t agree.”

Matt O’Riley of Celtic celebrates scoring our second goal with teammates during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on April 07, 2024. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The Italian report states that Brighton are now ready to offload O’Riley and that could be music to the ears of Gian Piero Gasperini. His lowball tactics of course stand in the way of Celtic benefiting from a sell-on clause with Brighton likely to be looking at getting their money back on the deal and the former Atalanta man perhaps looking to justify his valuation from last summer which reached around £21m – eventually!

Like many players going into the season before the World Cup Finals, Matt O’Riley knows that he needs to be playing regularly and playing in his favoured position and if the new Roma boss can offer that then the deal with undoubtedly be attractive to the English born Dane, with the Irish sounding surname who made his name playing in Scotland for Celtic.

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