Is Girona’s interest in Matt O’Riley legitimate? If the right offer came in, would you trust the Celtic board NOT to sell him?

Last night, Sky Sports announced that La Liga leaders Girona were showing interest in Matt O’Riley.

Nothing to much to worry about there, you’d be inclined to think, yes?

On paper, it doesn’t look like it would be an appealing move for someone like Matt O’Riley.

While Girona might be leading La Liga by a point, in reality, it’s highly unlikely they will retain their current position.

Especially with Real Madrid breathing down their necks, and with a game in hand.

You’d imagine Real Madrid will win their game in hand, and once they regain top spot, it’s unlikely they’ll relinquish it.

Girona are a small club, in a big league, and they play in a stadium which has a capacity of 14,624.

They generate an annual turnover of around €55 million.

A lot less than ours, so you’d imagine they have to be conservative enough in the transfer market.

That’s not to say they won’t make an offer for Matt O’Riley, though.

Making an offer would mean that their interest is legitimate, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if that materialises.

In reality, it’s safe to say that nothing much will come of this.

Or, is it?

While Girona’s turnover and finances may be dwarfed by the team that’s breathing down their necks, on the 23rd of December last, their board approved a €60 million transfer fund.

Which begs the question, how much of that would they be willing to part with to secure the services of Matt O’Riley?

You can’t really imagine them offering any more than €15 million.

To me, that’s no where near what Matt O’Riley is worth.

But, would the board see it the same way?

Look at it this way, they paid £1.5 million for Matt O’Riley two years ago.

€15 million is just under £13 million, so that means the club would make an £11.5 million profit if they accepted a bid of that magnitude.

We all know the board are businessmen and not football men.

That kind of profit is good business in anyone’s commercial language.

But the board also knows that the longer Matt O’Riley is with the club, the higher his stock will rise.

So, while it’s unlikely they’d be willing to sell him now, I still have a nagging doubt it might happen.

Put that down to past behaviours from this board.

It also depends on how much, if Girona make an offer, the board’s resolve could be tested.

In yesterday’s article, I reported that Celtic were showing interest in another South Korean midfielder.

In it, I asked why we would need another midfielder?

Well, if you’re reading between the lines, you’d have to ask the question, have the board been talking to Girona already?

I’ll simplify this for you, have you ever seen this board sell a player for top dollar, and then replace him with someone who costs a fraction of what they made on that sale?

I’m not being an alarmist here, more like open minded.

Our board has previous for this kind of behaviour.

They can acquire this South Korean midfielder for around £1 million.

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they would do this, is it?

I’ll say it again, why would we be looking at a midfielder, when we don’t need one, unless we were expecting to lose one?

It’s a straightforward question really.

Now, a lot of you out there might say I’m bonkers, and there isn’t a chance of this happening.

Am I?

Believe me, I’ve seen this movie scene many times before now.

So forgive me for being slightly skeptical.

Call it erring on the side of caution if you want.

The bottom line is that I do not trust our board.

And I will not relax until this transfer window is closed and Matt O’Reilly is in the starting 11 for the game at Pittrodie.

Once bitten, twice shy, and all of that.

But most of you who pay close attention to the machinations of this club, will know exactly where I’m coming from.

On a final note, City Football Group has a 47% stake in Girona FC.

And we all know who’s good mates with the City Group, don’t we?

We also know who used to work for them.

Worried yet?