Daily Mail claims that Australian internationalist will sign for Celtic in the coming days

 Celtic are reported to be very close to signing Riley McGree from Charlotte FC. 

The 23-year-old central midfielder is currently on loan at Birmingham City but the Daily Mail is very confident that he is on his way to Celtic. 

With Ange Postecoglou in charge of Celtic the club is bound to be an attractive option for Australian players, there barely seems to be anyone that has a grudge against the hoops boss with his approach to the game and attitude to management widely praised. 

With Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi signed up already this month Celtic have strengthened their midfield but in the summer Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham and Ryan Christie all left with James McCarthy the only in-coming midfielder. 

During the summer window Postecoglou brought in 12 new players but none were Australian, with Tom Rogic revitalised it looks like another Socceroo is about to join him in Glasgow.  

The Daily Mail reports: 

Celtic are closing on a deal for Australia international Riley McGree who has been impressing on loan at Birmingham City. 

The 23-year-old has proved a firm favourite with Birmingham supporters after arriving on loan from MLS expansion franchise Charlotte FC last season.  

He went on to make 30 appearances and scored three goals prior to his loan period finishing at the end of December attracting interest from a number of clubs. 

McGree had professed his love for Birmingham and was willing to consider staying with Lee Bowyer’s Championship side. Indeed, teammate George Friend made a plea for the club to keep McGree saying: ‘He has been great. He’s a very good player. 

‘He has had a really tough time here because under [Aitor] Karanka he just didn’t play, even though every day in training he was arguably the best player. 

‘He has waited and he has got a great temperament and personality – and most of all he is a talented footballer, so I hope he can stay on some level.’ 

Subsequently, Birmingham were widely expected to try and make his move permanent, however, Celtic manager, and fellow Australian, Ange Postecoglu is a confirmed admirer and wants to take McGree to the Scottish Premiership where he believes the playmaker can have a big impact. 

A number of Championship clubs are understood to have shown strong interest in McGree, who has been playing for Australia in their World Cup qualifiers this year, but it looks increasingly likely that Celtic will fend off rival competition and convince him to sign for them in the coming days. 

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CLICK HERE Celtic were first linked with McGree in March 2017 when he was breaking through at Adelaide United.