When it comes to transfer speculation, Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis hold the reigns for Celtic at the moment.
Both have been continuously linked with moves away from the club for a number of weeks now and the more that kind of talk drags on, the more you would fear that it could have a destabilising effect on the team.
Not so, says Matt O’Riley.
The Celtic midfielder was the subject of intense speculation at the star of the season when it was reported that THIRTY-NINE clubs attended a fixture for the Danish u21’s where O’Riley was playing.
But O’Riley has dismissed the rumours and claimed that the team, as a whole, are all focused on the season ahead.
Speaking in The Herald, O’Riley 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 was signed by Celtic for a mere £1.5m from MK Dons in January of this year and has enjoyed some fantastic form under Ange Postecoglou.
The 21-year-old has been a mainstay in the side and impressed whilst deputising in Callum McGregor’s holding role whilst the captain was out injured.
O’Riley is now back in his familiar attacking midfield role where he hopes to help push for the title now that the domestic game has resumed after the World Cup.