Celtic kicked off the 2024-25 campaign in style with a resounding 4-0 victory over Kilmarnock at Parkhead, with their Scottish Premiership title defence starting on the greatest of notes.
First-half goals from Reo Hatate and Liam Scales put the Hoops into a commanding position heading into the break, and they resumed from where things stopped in the second-half, with Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn and Anthony Ralston finding the back of the net to ensure Brendan Rodgers and his men strolled to a very comfortable victory.
Chris Sutton was impressed with the performance he saw from Celtic, and he was particularly blown away with the displays from Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and Hatate.
The former Celtic striker took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to shower praise on the team and the trio, and he also sent a transfer message to the board.
That was impressive from Celtic👏👏. Hatate , McGregor, O’Riley wonderful. Great start to the season looked slick and sharp. A couple of quality additions and making sure O’Riley and Hatate stay and it could well be a very exciting season ahead.
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 4, 2024
Holding on to their star midfielders could be very crucial for Celtic this season, especially if they wish to impress in the Champions League following several seasons of disappointment.
O’Riley is on the radar of a couple of clubs, and Chelsea have recently joined the race to bring the 23-year-old to the Premier League this summer as they prepare for life without their academy graduate Conor Gallagher.
It has been reported that an offer of more than £20 million plus extras could be enough to persuade Celtic, with Rodgers admitting suitors will need to meet their valuation to have any chance of landing him.
However, the Hoops should be holding on to such an influential player, who ended 2023-24 with 19 goals and 18 assists in 49 games across all competitions to help them win the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.
Hatate has also been tipped to leave, with Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd claiming he would not be surprised if the Japan international were to follow O’Riley out of the door this summer, but Sutton wants the duo to stay and for further quality additions to be made if Celtic are to continue their domestic dominance and impress in Europe.
