Former Celtic forward John Hartson believes that Matt O’Riley is worth £20 million and is as good a player as James Maddison.
It wouldn’t be like any normal transfer window if there wasn’t Celtic players being linked with a move away to England.
O’Riley arrived at Celtic in January and made an instant impact under Ange Postecoglou as he made 20 appearances scoring 4 goals and assisting twice.
His season got off to a flyer as he whipped in the ball from the corner which found Stephen Welsh to nod the ball into the net.
Former Aberdeen loanee James Maddison is linked with a move to rich kids Newcastle United with it being speculated that he could make the switch to St James’ Park for a deal worth around £60 million with Rodgers side having already knocked back a bid in the region of £40 million.
It is rumoured that the former Celtic manager is now turning his eyes elsewhere with Matt O’Riley being a potential replacement for the England star.
However, with all this talk former Celtic striker John Hartson has stuck a whooping price tag on O’Riley’s current value.
“Well, listen, Celtic might look at it if it was £50million. Is he any better than O’Riley, Maddison?”, said John Hartson speaking on GO Radio.
“What is the difference? O’Riley does fantastic things on the ball. Maddison has had a little bit more experience of the Premier League. Let’s not forget that Maddison has improved massively since he was up at Aberdeen a few years back.
“All of a sudden he goes to Leicester in the Premier League, does that then make him worth 10 times what a player that is playing in the Scottish Premiership is worth? O’Riley is massive to Ange Postecoglou and the Celtic teams plans going forward.
“(He is massive to) The four fronts and four trophies that Celtic will compete for. I’m just making a point, if O’Riley is £4-£5million, what makes Maddison £50million or more? Leicester have got to come and pay top dollar.
“Celtic don’t need to take the money. I’m not saying £50m for him but you’re looking at £18m or £20m.
“Matt O’Riley is different class and he’s going to get better. He’s a wonderful player.”
Ange Postecoglou is building something special at Celtic and now is not the time to be losing any important players to the team.
O’Riley who will be hoping to try and break into the Danish World Cup squad with good performances in the Champions League has already stated that he is happy in Glasgow and is committed to Celtic.
