Ange Postecoglou makes surprise Celtic transfer admission

Celtic have an impressive transfer record since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager. The club have signed the likes of Kyogo, Jota, Liel Abada, Carl Starfelt, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic, Joe Hart and others, who have gone on to become important parts of the first-team picture. And this January, they have made some exciting additions as well in the form of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Johnny Kenny.

Things have certainly looked up for Celtic. But they arguably faced their first stumbling block of the Postecoglou era in the transfer market, with a move for Riley McGree falling through.

It had looked like everything was in place and the Australian international was headed towards Celtic. But Middlesbrough are believed to have swooped in with a late offer and now, it looks like that is where McGree is headed.

Surprisingly, Postecoglou was open about the transfer saga and admitted that the club had interest in McGree but he chose to look elsewhere. As reported by Birmingham Live, the Celtic manager said:

"“Riley McGree was somebody we had an interest in because of my association with him, obviously I know the player very well.“After initial discussions, he’s decided to look elsewhere, which is fine.”"

Celtic’s McGree transfer blow confirmed by Postecoglou

It is not often that a manager comes out and admits that the club failed to reach a deal with one of their transfer targets and the honesty is refreshing from Postecoglou.

At the end of the day though, the situation is far from ideal for Celtic. McGree had impressed at Birmingham City on loan and could have been a solid addition in the middle of the park for the Hoops.

But it has not worked out. The only thing that Celtic can do right now is move on and look towards other players. It must be said though that quite a few eyebrows were raised at the idea of signing another midfielder after the club had already brought in Hatate and Ideguchi this month.