Newcastle United want Matt O’Riley but Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou doesn’t seem too concerned about a possible move.
The Magpies may be in the market for a natural playmaker to bolster their midfield options.
Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Jonjo Shelvey give Newcastle a strong base to work with but a real creative midfielder would be ideal.
James Maddison was a key target over the summer but Leicester City stood firm and refused to sell.
Eddie Howe may look at alternatives in the January window and one of them may well be Celtic ace O’Riley.
Newcastle United want Matt O’Riley
ESPN reported in August that Newcastle were vying with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United for O’Riley’s signature.
O’Riley then told Tipsbladet in Denmark that Newcastle were indeed interested in signing him.
Newcastle’s interest has only been advanced with Football Scotland reporting that they scouted the Danish Under-21’s in the international break, with O’Riley the key name in action.
The 21-year-old remarkably spent six months without a club between the summer of 2020 and January 2021 having left Fulham.
Milton Keynes Dons moved to sign O’Riley and after 10 goals and eight assists in 54 games for the Dons, Celtic swooped in.
O’Riley already has five assists in just eight league games this season and he looks destined for a huge career.
Celtic would be raking in the profit if O’Riley was to move on but they of course don’t want to lose the Danish Under-21 playmaker.
Boss Ange Postecoglou has now told The Scottish Sun that there is no point paying attention to the speculation – especially given that O’Riley knows the other side of football in terms of being without a club.
The Australian called upon O’Riley to keep doing all the right things for Celtic and whatever happens happens, seemingly not too worried about Newcastle swooping in January,
“Perspective is always a good thing,” said Postecoglou. “You could say Matt has had a meteoric rise, but this time last year he was playing with MK Dons in League One, so I think he understands the other side of football. He was literally training in the park with his dad and a personal trainer not all that long ago, so he’s seen that side of it.”
“When things are going well you understand that the only reason things are going well is because you are doing certain things, you’re staying in the present, you’re working hard and making sure you are the best footballer you can be. You can’t worry too much about speculation or what the next step is — the time when footballers maybe fall into the trap is when everything’s gone well for them and there are no setbacks.”
“Even the best players in the world have setbacks, and Matty has had that. It’s been fantastic for his development as a person as well as a footballer to understand that, as well as things are going now, they’ll only keep going well if he keeps doing what he’s doing,” he added.
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