Premier League club 'join race' for £25m Celtic star as ex-Hearts man opens up on permanent move
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Hibs and Hearts are back in for pre-season as both sides prepare for the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership campaign. Hearts secured European football with a third-placed finish last season but it was a disappointing year for Hibs, who finished eighth.
The fixture list for next season was published last month and Hearts kick things off at home to Rangers on Saturday, August 3, while Hibs go to St Mirren later that same day. The countdown is on and teams across the Scottish Premiership are hard at work recruiting, so the EEN has rounded up some of the latest stories from across the division.
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Hide AdMore O’Riley interest
Leicester City have emerged as the latest team to reportedly express their interest in Celtic’s Matt O’Riley. The Scottish Sun reports that new Foxes manager Steve Cooper has identified O’Riley as the perfect replacement for their own big-money exit, Kiernan Dewsbury Hall, who joined Chelsea in a deal worth £30million towards the end of June.
Despite winning promotion to the Premier League, Leicester have been plagued by financial issues and are expected to receive a points deduction for past financial breaches. They were forced to cash in on Dewsbury-Hall before the June 30 accounting deadline but can now look to replace him, with O’Riley’s attacking threat a major pull for those in charge at the King Power Stadium.
O’Riley is on the radar of several top-flight clubs across Europe, following an outstanding season in which he registered 18 goals and 13 assists in 37 league appearances. Celtic are thought to want a Scottish record fee of over £25m for the 23-year-old, with Brighton, Southampton and Atletico Madrid also thought to be weighing up moves.
Shaughnessy deal
Former Hearts defender Conor Shaughnessy insists there’s no place he’d rather be than Portsmouth after signing a contract extension at Fratton Park. The defender only joined as a free agent last summer but has now penned a new three-year deal after helping Pompey achieve promotion to the Championship.
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Hide Ad“I’m over the moon to sign an extension,” Shaughnessy said. “There’s no place I’d rather be and to continue my career here is perfect for me right now. I’m excited for the next few years at the club.
“Obviously, we had a great season as a club and just speaking to everyone (about) where we’re heading, the ambitions of the club and everybody - the manager, the director, and the players ourselves - we’re all heading in the right direction and it only felt right for me to do this now and commit to the next three years.”
Clement transfer priority
Rangers have made the signing of a 30-goal-a-season striker their top priority this summer, according to Football Insider. Manager Philippe Clement is desperate to add more goals to his squad in a bid to challenge Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title next season.
There is a major rebuild already underway at Ibrox, with Hamza Igamane becoming the seventh arrival earlier this week. But there will be plenty more to come between now and the end of August, with goals the key focus.