Riley McGree has stated that he made the ‘right’ call to turn down Celtic and Ange Postecoglou, as he told Optus Sport.
The Australian had the chance to join big Ange at Celtic during the January transfer window, but instead, he opted to sign for English Championship side, Middlesbrough instead.
The midfielder was on-loan at Birmingham City from Charlotte FC, but there was interest from much bigger clubs for his signature, so it was obvious he was going to leave St Andrews.
When Celtic, and his former boss, came knocking, many thought he would be heading towards Glasgow to help Postecoglou regain the title from Rangers.
Instead, he joined Chris Wilder at the Riverside, with Boro ending the Championship season five points outside of the play-off places.
When McGree was asked about that call he made in the winter, he made it clear ‘I will stand by that until the day I die’.
“You come to these decisions in moments in your career when you have to make decisions,” said McGree.
“I truly believe I made the right one. All respect to Celtic and Ange, but I am a Middlesbrough player.
On whether it was hard and if Ange called him personally: “Yes, he did,” responded McGree. “And it wasn’t easy, of course.
“But I did what I thought was right and I will stand by that until the day I die.”
CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MCGREE AND BORO…CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR CELTIC
After winning the Scottish Premiership title, their tenth in 11 seasons Celtic, it also meant a straight road to the group stages of the Champions League.
None of this qualification nonsense for the Bhoys, so from that perspective, McGree is missing out on some big European nights.
The lure of the Premier League will always dangle in the air because it’s dubbed the best league in the world and the money that’s on offer.
But if Boro fail to earn promotion next season, then McGree will have even more egg on his face, whether he regrets his call to snub Celtic or not.
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