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It has been reported that Celtic are close to making the club’s fifth signing of the January transfer window.
The Daily Record are reporting that the Hoops are on the verge of agreeing a deal to sign MK Dons midfielder Matt O’Riley, with the player set to travel to Scotland shortly for a medical.
Looking at the player’s statistics for the season so far on Transfermarkt, he has played the majority of games for the League One side as a central midfielder, and some might think that the Hoops have enough central midfielders in the squad.
However, the player has weighed in with an impressive seven goals and six assists in 30 appearances so far in the season 2021/22 campaign, which are very good numbers of a midfielder.
Perhaps Ange Postscoglou has O’Riley in mind to replace David Turnbull in the Hoops squad, who is currently out of action with a long-term hamstring problem.
Turnbull had scored nine goals before his injury, and he is Celtic’s top scorer from midfield this season. Indeed, even though Celtic have been impressive for the most part going forward this season, there is a lack of goals from midfield, as Turnbull is by far the highest scorer in that area of the squad.
Perhaps the Hoops boss reckons that O’Riley can find the back of the net on a regular basis in the Scottish Premiership.
It will be a step up in class for the player, to go from League One to potentially playing in Europe, but if he is a player that the manager has identified as one that is important to the Hoops then he should be welcomed with open arms by the support.
O’Riley might not be a regular for the Hoops this season should he agree to join the club, but at the age of 21 he looks to have a big future in the game.
The fact that he has played so many games for MK Dons this season shows that they don’t consider his age an issue, but then it has to be said that Celtic have a stronger squad and more competition than the League One side does.
Should the deal get done, then O’Riley looks to be a promising signing, and he could be a player that is at Celtic for a good few years if he plays well for the club.
It might take time for the Englishman to make his mark at Celtic, but he is the type of signing that the Hoops should be making – a player at the start of their career who could eventually be sold for a big profit.
