Southampton have made a concrete move to sign Matt O'Riley, according to a report.
It's claimed the Premier League side have registered their interest in the Celtic midfielder in the "last few hours".
TuttoMercato state Russell Martin's side are keen on a transfer swoop for O'Riley this summer.
The former Scotland internationalist is well acquainted with O'Riley having previously managed him at MK Dons.
Now, it appears he could rival interest from Atalanta in a transfer race to land O'Riley.
The Serie A club have reportedly had bids for O'Riley rejected by Celtic chiefs who are thought to be holding out for a record transfer fee.
The outlet claims the latest bid from Atalanta was "€17m euros plus two in bonuses" but it was met with a "firm no".
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When quizzed on transfer interest in O'Riley earlier this week, Brendan Rodgers said: "Celtic is a club where you can move on but you don’t have to and it’s a very difficult club to move on from.
“I think we all understand, the people close to Celtic, the model Celtic works to.
“Matt’s been at the club for three years, he’s developed into the player he has and he knows the privilege it is to play for Celtic.
“Of course naturally how it works is the player gets that opportunity to move on.
“Naturally with the wages that are on offer for players then that makes it a real challenge for Celtic to compete at that level.
“But what I’ve seen with Matt is he’s a first-class professional. He’s a really humble guy who’s really devoted to his profession and he knows what he has here.
“We’re all quite relaxed about it. Every player has a value but we see him as a really important player and while he’s here we’ll continue to develop him and improve.”
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