Matt O'Riley and the glaring Celtic 'if' that must be turned into a WHEN as £9m transfer mistake can't happen again

The word ‘if’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting at Celtic right now when it comes to Matt O’Riley.

If Celtic manage to keep hold of the midfielder. If the Hoops can get big money for him. If O’Riley does go, manager Brendan Rodgers will need to bring in a top-class replacement. It’s the wrong word, though. It should be ‘when’.

There are some fans asking if Celtic need to sell their top asset given the club have so much cash in the bank. But they are missing the point. When the right money is on the table, O’Riley HAS to be sold. The entire model of the club is built on selling these guys when the time is right. And you could argue the time is probably right for O’Riley. In an ideal world, Celtic get these players in, they spend five years here then go for top dollar.

Football doesn’t work like that. Players fall in and out of form, their star rises and dips. They can be flavour of the month at one point then on an all inclusive to Siberia the next. You have to cash in when the chance arises then rely on the recruitment department to rinse and repeat. It’s the Celtic way. It’s also how they attract players in the first place.

Celtic are not just a stepping stone to the big time, they’re like a trampoline. They can show players the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and right through to Moussa Dembele, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer. You can’t promise to get these guys to the next level then hold them back when their chance arrives. Celtic learned it the hard way back during the failed 10-in-row bid. They kept players on for one extra season and it cost them the league and knocked a few quid off their value.

It also happened during Rodgers’ first reign when Celtic rejected £9million