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Celtic transfer plan if ‘big fish’ come for Matt O’Riley revealed as champions already after the NEXT version of Dane

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Celtic transfer plan if ‘big fish’ come for Matt O’Riley revealed as champions already after the NEXT version of Dane

O’Riley has been tipped as the next player to bank Celtic mega-bucks and realistic John Kennedy knows they can’t keep him forever.

Matt O’Riley of Celtic celebrates scoring

John Kennedy admits big fishes could soon be swimming after star man Matt O’Riley. But the Celtic coach is adamant the club will have a succession plan ready if the day comes for the Danish star to go to the big leagues.

O’Riley’s outstanding form in the Champions League and Premiership have attracted interest in his services with the January transfer window looming. Asked if it was important to keep top stars such as O’Riley, Kennedy said: “Yeah, it is. The model, we know, ultimately, when the big fish come, they come up with the money, then the players might have ambitions to go on and play in bigger leagues. We accept that.

“But it’s just having a steady flow. So Matty’s come in the past couple of years, he’s progressed really well and, when they are attracting attention, it’s because things are going in the right direction. That’s the nature of it. Again, we just have to make sure that, behind that, we have the next one in line.

“We keep bringing them through and everyone looks to a Matt, or players in the past. Jota last year, Kieran Tierney, Kris Ajer, Odsonne Edouard. All of these guys who have gone onto some of the bigger leagues. But it’s a good inspiration.

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“Not everyone’s ambition is to do that. You get someone like Callum McGregor who will have had plenty of opportunities in his career to do so, but enjoys being here and now captains the club.

“You also have to accept some people’s ambitions and we do that. But, while they are here, we give our all to them in terms of what we can do for them and we expect the same on the other side that they put their work in every day to be the best versions of themselves.”

Kennedy, meanwhile, insists it’s a huge boost to have quiet inspirations Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers back. The key Parkhead pair are set to return in today’s crunch Premiership clash with Hearts after injury absences. Maeda has been out for almost six weeks having sustained a knee injury during the Champions League clash with Atletico in Madrid.

Carter-Vickers has also been absent for the past two matches against Kilmarnock and Feyenoord due to a hamstring issue. The assistant manager said: “People often associate leading with being the vocal one. But that’s not the case.

“Leadership is basically around behaviour which can come in many shapes or forms. It can be vocal, it can be what you do in training, how you live your life. Everyone has a different way of doing it and the thing is to be natural with that. Daizen’s natural thing is to run and work really hard.

“If you watch him on the training pitch, we see it every day. You guys see it on matchdays, but when he does on a matchday, everyone talks about his workrate and running and everything else, but it’s because of what he puts in every day.

“He’s an inspiration to all the players because they appreciate what he brings and what he does. If we get any young players that come up, we use him as an example. He’s an important player for us and, in the time he’s been out, we’ve missed him. It’s good to have him back.”

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Carter-Vickers also leads by example as Kennedy continued: “In terms of stature, he’s a big figure. Again, he’s not a shouter, he’s not one in the dressing room you’ll hear a lot from. But, if we have small group meetings and stuff like that, he’s more than happy to front up, speak, give his opinion and guide the younger players. Again, how he trains and what he does on a matchday, that’s his version of leadership. He is a really important figure for us.”

Celtic can re-establish an eight-point lead in the title race with a victory over the Tynecastle outfit and Kennedy insists the team have to stick to their principles. Kennedy said: “Second half last week (against Kilmarnock), we have addressed that. We lost control of the game because we came away from the way we play.

“We showed them examples of Atletico Madrid pressing us Celtic Park and playing through it no problem. It’s all in the mind in that respect and the players have been great on that, embrace it and take it on board.”

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