Newcastle United send scout to watch ‘pressing machine’ who Arsenal want to sign

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Newcastle United want Matt O’Riley and have again scouted Celtic ahead of potentially launching a 2023 move for the exciting playmaker.

The Magpies have an absolute dream of a midfielder right now having snapped up Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon earlier this year.

Whether deployed in a holding or box-to-box midfield role, Bruno Guimaraes is just an outstanding player.

Eddie Howe also has the likes of Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Joelinton in his midfield ranks, but a pure playmaker may be the next addition.

Newcastle United want Matt O’Riley

James Maddison was linked over the summer but the Leicester City still will likely cost a huge amount.

Newcastle have been looking at another playmaker though and he could be viewed as a cheaper alternative to Maddison.

ESPN reported in August that Newcastle were looking towards Celtic ace Matt O’Riley as a potential £20million signing.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were also mentioned as being very interested in O’Riley.

O’Riley then told Tipsbladet in Denmark that Newcastle were interested in signing him alongside Leicester City.

Celtic stood firm and managed to keep hold of O’Riley but the interest isn’t exactly going away.

TV2 reported in September that Newcastle watched O’Riley in action for Denmark’s Under-21’s against Croatia.

The Sun now claim that Newcastle’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson travelled to Glasgow to watch Celtic against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek.

The reason for his trip? You guessed it, Celtic midfielder O’Riley.

O’Riley played the full 90 minutes but couldn’t prevent a 2-0 Celtic defeat.

O’Riley has bagged five assists in 14 games for Celtic this season and his total record for the Bhoys now stands at four goals and seven assists in 34 games since his January move from MK Dons.

Former Dons boss Russell Martin hailed O’Riley as a ‘pressing machine’ and you can understand why Eddie Howe and co appear to be keen, with O’Riley having a promising blend of pressing off the ball and creativity on it.