Celtic’s recruitment since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou has been superb. It was the biggest reason that they were able to win the Premiership and League Cup last season, and this time around, they might be onto a few winners as well in the form of Sead Haksabanovic and Alexandro Bernabei, who are starting to impress.
Arguably their biggest transfer masterstroke till now has been the signing of Matt O’Riley from English League One side, MK Dons, in January.
Unsurprisingly, questions were raised about whether O’Riley was ready to play Premiership football. He had impressed at MK Dons, but at the end of the day, that was in the third tier of the English game. Well, he has not taken long to show his class in Celtic colours and seems to be attracting heavy interest from down south.
As reported by The Sun, Newcastle’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson was at the Celtic vs RB Leipzig game in midweek. And he was keeping an eye on O’Riley.
Newcastle United are keeping an eye on the rising Celtic star
It is safe to say that Newcastle United are not the only English club to have been linked with a move for O’Riley in recent times. In fact, rumours have suggested that he is drawing the interest of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Crystal Palace as well.
According to stats from Transfermarkt, O’Riley has provided 5 assists in 14 appearances till now this season across all competitions.
So, it would not be much of a surprise if it took a transfer fee north of £15 million to take O’Riley away from Celtic in the summer. Of course, fans would be hoping that he remains at the club for the foreseeable future as he is a very important part of this team already.