Aston Villa have reportedly set their sights on title-winning £26m midfielder who ‘glides about the pitch Celtic’s ahead of the January transfer window.

Aston Villa want title-winning £26m midfielder who ‘glides about the pitch’

Aston Villa have reportedly set their sights on Celtic’s Matt O’Riley ahead of the January transfer window.

The Villans are flying high in the Premier League and in Europe, and could well look to bolster their ranks further in January to maintain their momentum.

According to Sky Sports, Villa are one of several teams that have been watching O’Riley with a view to a potential approach.

As well as the Villans, the likes of West Ham, PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan are reportedly eyeing the midfielder.

Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

The Sky Sports report claims Inter are prepared to offer an initial loan until the end of the season with an obligation to buy him in the summer.

In terms of price tag, Fabrizio Romano previously claimed that any team wishing to sign O’Riley would have to break the Scottish transfer record.

This currently stands at £25million, the fee Celtic received when they sold Portuguese winger Jota to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad in the summer.

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Aston Villa one of multiple teams in pursuit of Matt O’Riley

Villa have struck gold multiple times in the transfer market this year, and O’Riley would be another outstanding addition to the claret-and-blue ranks.

The 23-year-old is on nine goals and eight assists for the season so far, an especially great tally when you consider he’s a central midfielder.

Furthermore, three of his assists have come in the Champions League, showing how apt he is at the highest level.

In October, Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd backed O’Riley to be “one of the next ones to go in terms of big money” from the Scottish top flight.

Boyd said on Sky Sports: “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.”

Villa – or any other suitors – would likely be looking at £26million and over for O’Riley.

It’s a fairly hefty price tag, but considering Declan Rice went for over £100million, it goes to show that an elite midfielder is worth his weight in gold. And O’Riley has the makings of one.

At the same time, the reigning Scottish champions only have a two-point lead at the top over second-placed Rangers, who have a game in hand. They may refuse to sell O’Riley until the summer at least.

Brendan Rodgers struck by ‘strange’ Celtic feeling before Livingston stroll as boss drops Christmas dinner quip

The Irishman watched on as his side coasted to victory over the side currently propping up the league table.

CELTIC PLAYER RATINGS FROM SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP CLASH AGAINST LIVINGSTON

Brendan Rodgers says his Christmas dinner will go down a treat after Celtic’s comfortable 2-0 win over Livingston.

The hosts were booed off once again after a drab first half, off the back of back-to-back defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts. But whatever the boss said at half-time worked as the champions flew out the traps with Kyogo and Liam Scales goals less than 10 minutes after the restart, leaving David Martindale’s floored.

Speaking to Sportsound, Rodgers insisted it was important for the Hoops to get back on track with Dundee at Dens Park and the all-important second derby of the season with Rangers coming on December 30th. He said when asked if his Christmas dinner will taste better in victory: “It always does. Winning always makes the food taste that bit better, for sure. It was a much better performance and result, of course. After two disappointing results you have to react.

“It felt strange as a Celtic manager to be in that position. But you have to respond and you can do your talking on the pitch, and I thought the players did that really well today.

“They probably didn’t get the goals they deserved. But from the off you could see the tempo and intensity was much better.”

Kyogo’s goal was his first since November 12th against Aberdeen, a seven-game stretch. Rodgers added: “I think he is only three short of where he was last season. But strikers want to score goals. It was an important team goal but nice for him to get a goal.”

Glasgow Derby Injury Concern for Celtic

Celtic emerged victorious with a 2-0 win over Livingston, a welcome relief following back-to-back defeats.

3rd December 2023; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scotland: Scottish Premiership Football, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Alistair Johnston of Celtic celebrates towards the fans after the Matt ORiley of Celtic goal in the 79th minute makes it 2-1

However, the triumph came with a tinge of concern as right-back Alistair Johnston appeared to suffer an injury towards the end of the match.

He looked to have pulled up injured, making him a concern for the Glasgow Derby next week.

The game saw Kyogo breaking his goal drought. Kyogo found the net, marking an end to his recent period without goals. This strike set the tone for Celtic’s dominance in the match.

Liam Scales doubled Celtic’s lead by heading in a corner from Palma.

Impressively, Palma also played a crucial role in setting up Kyogo’s goal, showcasing his ability to orchestrate key plays.

The Green Brigade returned to the stands for the win. The group made their presence felt for the first time in 13 games after being absent due to a ban.

Hopefully Brendan Rodgers can provide a positive update on the right back.

Mark Wilson reacts to what he is hearing from the Celtic board that just ‘fuels the flames’

The Celtic supporters made their feelings clear towards the board during the defeat to Hearts over the weekend.

Chants of ‘sack the board’ were ringing around Parkhead, as some Celtic fans expressed their frustration at what they have been seeing on the pitch of late.

But Mark Wilson feels that the powers that be aren’t helping themselves by showing off the money that is in the bank, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.

One of the biggest frustrations for the supporters is that the money is there, yet the feeling is the boat wasn’t pushed out as much as it could have been done during the summer, and now it’s showing.

Even before Brendan Rodgers watched his Celtic side suffer back-to-back Scottish Premiership defeats, there was pressure on money needing to be spent and proven quality having to come in.

And whilst there needs to be a sense of calmness to proceedings, that fire of having to take action in January has now only been engulfed.

The best medicine is just putting wins on the board and the team certainly have big fixtures from now until the end of the month to do that.

But when discussing Celtc’s issues, Mark Wilson had this to say about the board.

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Celtic board

“I don’t think it helps when the board keep coming out and saying ‘we are doing great. Look at the spreadsheet’,” said Wilson.

“That just fuels the flames in Celtic fans wanting more money spent.”

Celtic v Livingston

Just get the three points on the board. Fans are going to expect a fiery start after the fireworks of the weekend.

And if that happens, then you are only as good as your last game.

Celtic know if they can end this month well on the pitch and be strong off it during the winter transfer window, then the worst of this season has already happened.