Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. That has been Brendan Rodgers' mantra this summer as vultures from across Europe’s top leagues have circled around midfielder Matt O’Riley.
From a financial standpoint of course, banking around £25m or potentially even more for a player who cost around £1.5m and has made a stellar contribution in his two and half years at Celtic would not necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, it would represent outstanding business.
The way the Celtic board may view such a deal though, and the way the club’s manager and fans view it, may differ. From a purely footballing perspective, the loss of O’Riley would be an immensely difficult one for the team to absorb, and for Rodgers to mitigate.
Plans to do just that though are already in motion should a club come up with the requisite cash required for Celtic to allow O’Riley to leave, something Rodgers still hopes will not come to pass before August is out, but something he has formulated a contingency for, just in case.
“We always have to be ready and braced for that,” Rodgers said.
“It can’t be a surprise, but we don’t want Matt to go, first and foremost.
“We know the club’s model and how it works, but there’s no rush to move Matt. We would love him to stay here and be here. I can see it in himself - he’s really happy.
“If you have the chance to change the conditions in your life and a club makes an offer that is of great value, then you have to look at it. There always needs to be that contingency in place, for sure.
“Part of improving our squad is getting all the players of quality in.”
The one thing Rodgers can count on though, despite the speculation surrounding him, is that O’Riley won’t be kicking down his door and agitating to get away from the club.
The 23-year-old admitted he found it a distraction when a bid from Atletico Madrid was rejected by Celtic in the January transfer window, but Rodgers can see that the experience of that period has helped the midfielder to cope with the transfer rumours surrounding him this time around.
“I’ve spoken with the players on that, that this can be a difficult period,” he said.
“There is a lot of emotion and emotional leverage being used by agents and all sorts of things going on to try and get players. You have to just manage it as best you can and keep the team focused on what you want to achieve over the course of the season.
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"This period is a difficult period naturally for players and for everyone. We can only keep our focus on the next game and the next training session. Thankfully, the players have been absolutely brilliant, I have to say.
“The behaviour and the respect shown to everything we’re trying to do has been brilliant, even though there has been speculation.
“For the likes of Matt, he’s been fantastic. People might say ‘Do you have to be not nice to get a move?’ and that’s not the case. He’s a good guy, his training is exemplary and if a club meets the valuation that the club thinks he is worth and can go then that will happen.
“I repeat, the value of the players will have to be matched before the club can consider it.”
As sad as the Celtic supporters would be to see O’Riley leave the club this summer, their main point of anguish so far this summer has surrounded their club’s incoming transfer business – or lack thereof.
Rodgers has urged them to remain calm and judge Celtic’s business at the end of the window, but he is firmly on the same page as the supporters are when it come to assessing his squad’s suitability to compete in the Champions League this season. Improvements, he stresses, are crucial.
“I’ve always said that recruitment is vital for success on the football pitch,” he said.
“Bringing in the players that allow you to elevate the game. Especially when you go up in the Champions League then the recruitment of players is crucial.
“Especially in the big clubs, if you don’t get it right then you have very little chance to put it right. If you don’t bring in a player that suits your style and is suitable for the football that you want to play - improving that player when there’s very little time is very difficult.
“That’s why you want to get in not just A player but the RIGHT player who can elevate you and the team’s game and that he’s a sufficient level. It will allow you to improve. That’s absolutely key.
“I’m looking at by the end of the window for signings, and that is when you can judge. I know that supporters want to see that team on the pitch, and as managers, we want the players in quickly and integrated.
“At the end of it, if we can get to the end of August and have a stronger squad than what we finished with last season, it will still be a successful window for us.
“To have success on the football pitch, you need to recruit, and you need to recruit the best possible players you can, if you want to achieve in European football.”
