One of Celtic’s foremost performers so far this season, Matt O’Riley has taken his game to a new level under the management of Brendan Rodgers. This season, the Danish midfielder has four goals and two assists in just six appearances, and his gaffer has hinted towards wanting to hand him a new deal.

Over the summer transfer window, the Irishman blocked a £10 million move to Leeds United for O’Riley, admitting the club couldn’t afford to lose another key first-team player. He said (Daily Mail): “I didn’t think we could afford to lose another starter and the club were very supportive on that,’ said Rodgers. They were great. We had obviously lost (Carl) Starfelt and lost Jota and we knew Cameron Carter-Vickers was going to be out for a while. I didn’t feel we could lose another one.”

This line of thinking is sensible, and it is a good job the club did not lose the services of the 22-year-old because his performances this season have been on a different level. Rodgers wants to keep improving the player, though. He said: “He knows that I’m investing in him to help him become better. He still knows he’s got a bit to improve and hopefully this part of the season is confirmation for him that I can still improve him as a player and develop him. Certainly, his value will increase in 12 months’ time.”

O’Riley spoke earlier in the season about how the double-treble-winning gaffer’s hands-on style of management was working well for him. That is now evident on the pitch.

Interest in the attack-minded midfielder was rife over the summer, but Rodgers has been public in his desire to keep O’Riley at the club, recently admitting he would ‘love’ him to stick around. He said: “I said to him in pre-season: ‘I can make you a better player and improve you as a player’. But naturally what happens at Celtic is that you improve and develop and then, you know… I am not wishing him out the door of course. Of course we want to keep him here, we would love to keep him here, and I believe that he still has a lot of development to go here.”

Over the past few months, Celtic have handed contract extensions to several players. Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, and Anthony Ralston are just a few names who have extended their contracts at the club through 2027.

Rodgers appears to be keen for O’Riley to be the next bhoy to put pen to paper. His current contract runs out in the summer of 2026, but it would be both smart and productive for both parties to extend such a deal.