Celtic look to be edging closer to their 5th transfer deal of the January window, with midfielder Matt O’Riley arriving in Glasgow to finalise his deal at Parkhead.
Since the speculation began yesterday, there has been a lot of talk as to what the 21-year old can bring to the table within Ange Postecoglou’s ever-improving squad.
One man who knows what it’s like to work at Parkhead, as both a player and a coach, and has also worked with O’Riley during his time at former club Fulham is Peter Grant.
Grant spent time with Fulham in 2015 as caretaker boss at Craven Cottage when O’Riley was a youngster. Speaking to the Daily Record, the former Celtic midfielder revealed a bit about the young Englishman and what supporters can come to expect from him.
“When he was at Fulham, he was a young man who was growing very quickly. He had a lot of back problems.
“There was a bit of training missed as he was growing up.
“One thing he always had was a lovely left foot – when he was on the ball, he was terrific.
“But he always felt he couldn’t get to the levels he wanted if he couldn’t get that run of games or training sessions, and it was
difficult for him because of those back problems.“People say kids play too much, but Matt was maybe the opposite. You felt he wasn’t getting enough games.
“As I said, Matt had a talented left foot, and there was absolutely no problem when he was on the ball.
“But, off the ball, I felt it might be a problem.
“Even as a youngster, you question them. People run off them or past them. That’s why you need to look at the bigger picture and understand if there are reasons.
“Matt’s reason is the missed training sessions, albeit through no fault of his own.
“Even as a youngster, you need to be building your game, playing consistently.
“I felt he was missing too many sessions for his own good, but it wasn’t the kid’s fault.
“That’s the biggest thing I see when I look at his games now and the way he is playing.”
He continued: “Even as a youngster, you need to be building your game, playing consistently.
“I felt he was missing too many sessions for his own good, but it wasn’t the kid’s fault.
“That’s the biggest thing I see when I look at his games now and the way he is playing.
“That was so pleasing to see, given he wasn’t fit enough to do that in the past, and people were always going to question him for it.
“He’s got the run of games now, and you need to have all assets in the modern game.”
We have seen many early comparisons between the MK Dons man and current Hoops midfielder Tom Rogic. So this deal sounds like a good pick-up from Postecoglou, adding more depth and cover for the Aussie midfielder.
It will be interesting to see how O’Riley settles in and features as we prepare for another busy second half of the campaign.
However, it is clear to see that Ange is building a squad ready to make a push in all competitions.
