Celtic star Matt O’Riley has spoken of his joy at his unlikely reunion with childhood friend Moritz Jenz in Paradise this summer.
O’Riley was unaware that the club had shown an interest in Jenz before his move last month, but claims that there little encouragement needed for the 23-year-old to make the switch from Lorient this summer.
As reported by The Scotsman, O’Riley said: “When I signed for Celtic in January, I wasn’t aware the club had looked at Moritz last summer.
“It wasn’t until we had a few calls before he came that I found that out. We spoke about a lot of things when we chatted and I explained the set-up and system, but he was keen to come and here he is. Football can be crazy sometimes.”
The pair came through the Fulham youth academy together and kept in touch despite their careers diverging when both left London, with O’Riley hoping that the reunion is just the start of their time together in Glasgow.
He said: “We met at 14, 15, had four years together at Fulham but I didn’t actually see him again until he came to Celtic, though we kept in touch. We shared a lot of good memories in the past and I hope there are more to come in the future at Celtic.”
Whilst O’Riley has long-since established himself as a key player for Celtic, Jenz has taken advantage of injuries to Stephen Welsh and Carl Starfelt to set an early marker down for the Hoops.
The German made his debut for Celtic in Dingwall last Saturday and marked the occasion in the perfect fashion, scoring a late winner from a Jota cross.
Both are likely to start when the champions travel to Ayrshire to take on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park tomorrow, and will hope for a similar result to last weekend’s dramatic win in the Highlands.
In other news: The Green Brigade release stunning new footage of memorable Celtic display.
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