Celtic ace lands £30m price tag, Rangers eye Liverpool 19 y/o, new Hearts deal, Hibs close to more signings – Scottish transfers

Collins urges Celtic on O’Riley fee

John Collins believes his former club Celtic are right to demand top dollar for their in-demand playmaker Matt O’Riley. The 23-year-old is attracting interest from Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Southampton, while Atalanta have already failed with two bids. The Danish internationalist once again impressed in Celtic’s 4-0 win over Kilmarnock on Sunday and speaking on BBC Sportsound, Collins urged Celtic to recoup a high fee should they sell him.

“Would Celtic laugh £15million out the door?” said Collins. “You talk about Scott McTominay being £30million. If I was analysing it, I like Scott McTominay, but I think Matt O’Riley’s a better player. I think Matt O’Riley has more in his locker than Scott McTominay. Does McTominay make better passes forward? No. Is he better at set-piece deliveries? I don’t think so. Does he score more goals? No.

“Does he create more goals? Okay, (O’Riley) is playing in Scottish football but when I’m watching Matt O’Riley I see a player with good balance, his head’s up all the time and if he’s playing with even better players in front of him he can pick passes left, right, through the middle and what else he can do is play it around corners, bounce it off centre-forwards, get strikes at the edge of the box. And he’s only 23-years-old with a good attitude. If I was a big club out there I’d be bidding for him.”

Hearts hope to tie up experienced defender Stephen Kingsley on a new contract. The 30-year-old’s existing deal expires at the end of the season and head coach Steven Naismith does not envisage any issues in getting the Scotland internationalist to commit to another stint in Gorgie.

 

“I’m really confident that will get agreed and he will be here,” Naismith told the Edinburgh Evening News. “I hope he’s here until he retires, if I’m honest. He is a really good pro, somebody who drives standards. He has got the experience of playing in Scotland, going down to England and playing at international level. He is a character we want to keep so I’m hoping that will get done.”