Celtic are reported to have beaten off a late offer from West Brom to secure the signing of Matt O’Riley according to the Daily Record.
With Middlesbrough’s intervention to sign Riley McGree last week still fresh in the memory nothing is ever completed until a deal is signed off followed by social media introductions.
Interest in O’Riley seemed to be stepped up yesterday with reports of the player travelling north followed by undergoing a medical.
Nothing was completed last night but the Daily Record reported:
Celtic have thwarted a bid by West Brom to hijack their £1.5million swoop for Matt O’Riley.
English Championship Baggies made an 11th hour bid to land the highly-rated MK Dons star. But Celtic had agreed a deal for the 21-year-old with the League One side.
And O’Riley has travelled north for a medical and the players’ representatives are expected in Glasgow on Thursday to finalise personal terms on a long-term deal.
It’s a coup for Celtic as O’Riley has been one of the standout performers in League One this season and that brought him to attention of boss Ange Postecoglou. Swansea, Blackburn and Huddersfield were all also keen while West Brom made a late-ditch bid to sign him.
Coming through the ranks at Fulham and capped by England at u-16 and u-18 level with his career taking off since moving to MK Dons a year ago.
It seems that Ange Postecoglou has provided O’Riley with a very definite development plan at Celtic which rules out a ‘project role’ which saw Liam Shaw sent out on loan to Motherwell earlier this month.
The signing of O’Riley alongside Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi adds real strength to Celtic’s midfield with Ismaila Soro, James McCarthy and Nir Bitton facing very strong competition to even make it onto the nine man substitute bench.
CLICK HERE for O’Riley’s Transfermarkt profile.
