Brendan Rodgers, the ‘relaxed’ Celtic manager, addresses Matt O’Riley’s Atalanta transfer bids

So far this summer, the midfielder has had three bids rejected.

Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic are not in a rush to sell prized asset Matt O’Riley, despite Atalanta’s bids being nowhere near their asking price.

It was exclusively revealed how the Serie A club offered £15 million for the Danish midfielder, who was booted into touch. The Europa League holders have since returned to the negotiating table, but other bids have been handled similarly.

For Rodgers, the playmaker still has plenty of time on his contract, so the Hoops can relax and be confident that they will not have to part with their star unless their lofty demands are met.

And, with Atalanta yet to meet the anticipated £25 million asking price, Rodgers was forthright about the situation.

“We’re all quite relaxed about it,” he said (RecordSport). “Every player has a value but we see him as a really important player and while he’s here we’ll continue to develop him and improve. There’s no update. We’re fairly relaxed, you saw him in the game the other night.

“He’s working well and is focus. Naturally when you’re a good young player who’s committed and professional as he is he will get attention. He’s working so well but there’s nothing to report on him I think we al understand the people close to Celtic understand the model Celtic works. Matt’s been at the club for three years he’s developed into the player he has and he knows the privilege it is to play for Celtic and of course naturally how it works is the player get that opportunity to move on. Celtic is a club where you can move on but you don’t have to and it’s a very difficult club to move on from.

“But naturally with the wages that are on offer for players then that makes it a real challenge for Celtic to compete at that level. But what I’ve seen with Matt is he’s a first-class professional. He’s a really humble guy who’s really devoted to his profession and he knows what he has here.”

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