For the past three transfer windows, most of the rumours surrounding Celtic have been about signings. Yes, the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ajer did end up leaving the club, but those exits were seen as foregone conclusions even before Ange Postecoglou had arrived as the manager of the club.
This January transfer window seems to be an interesting point in Postecoglou’s tenure as Celtic manager though, as for the first time, it looks like he could have to see one or more of his signings depart Parkhead.
The likes of Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis have been linked with exits for some time now, as it is believed that the club failed to agree contract extensions with them. On the other hand, exit rumours are never far away from Matt O’Riley either.
Could all these rumours about key players leaving have a negative impact on the squad though, with them still competing for three titles? O’Riley does not seem to believe so. As reported by The Herald, the Celtic midfielder said:
"“We don’t speak about that when we are together. Everyone is focused on what our goal is as a team and that is to win games and perform well for the club. There is always going to be noise externally. That is inevitable. It is probably something I have got more used to since I have been here.“At the start, it was quite a lot for me to take, to be honest. Now, I am more used to it. To be honest, a lot of the stuff you see might not be true, and some of it might be. But at the same time, we are here to do a job for this football club and as long as none of us is distracted from that we will be fine.”"
O’Riley responds to rumours about Celtic exits
It is safe to say that Juranovic, Giakoumakis and O’Riley are all key players for Celtic and any of them leaving the club in the middle of the season would be a major blow.
Even then, there does seem to be a sense of inevitability about Juranovic leaving, after he enjoyed a spectacular World Cup campaign as Croatia ended up finishing third in the competition. So, he will be returning to Glasgow with a medal in his briefcase.
He has also been linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe and his transfer value will be at its absolute peak after the World Cup.
There does seem to be some legs about the Giakoumakis exit rumours as well and let’s see what happens there. But when it comes to O’Riley, a January departure feels very unlikely.