John Hartson was over the moon after hearing some exciting news about Celtic duo Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate this week.
The former Celtic hero was delighted to hear that the club are set to offer new deals to the midfielders and said that the club are ‘very wise’ to do so.
Hartson said [The Go Radio Football Show], “Excellent news. [Reo] Hatate and Matt O’Riley, you want to tie your best players down in this day and age.
“You could get an offer, they might still get an offer even when they sign new contracts. But you want to tie your best players down
“You don’t want to let them go into a situation where they’ve got a year or a couple of years left and their agents can then go and talk to other clubs.
“But of course, if you have them tied down on contracts as well, it means that if there was a buying club, they’d have to pay more money for them. Because in terms of the fee, they’d have to buy their contracts out as well.
“So very wise from Celtic and besides that, they’re both very good players.”
Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley are so important to Celtic
Both midfielders have been tremendous for Celtic since joining in the 2022 January window. The pair have been synonymous with the club’s recent successes and extending their stays will undoubtedly help to continue Celtic’s domination of Scottish football and, hopefully, improve their fortunes in Europe.
For Hatate, it’s important that his future is sorted. His form has dipped and clearly, the speculation surrounding him is affecting his game.
As for O’Riley, the 22-year-old is loving his time at the club. He’s found a new lease of life under Brendan Rodgers and looks a far more accomplished player this season.
He’s adding goals and, defensively, he’s supporting Callum McGregor in that midfield role. He’s truly been excellent.
The sooner Celtic get these deals done the better both players will become and, as Hartson says, if any teams do come sniffing around, they know that they are going to have to come up with an exceptional offer if they want to prise any of them away from Glasgow.
In other news, ‘Probably’: Craig Moore strangely says 22-year-old Celtic player should be scoring more goals