Matt O’Riley seems to impress wherever he goes. The Celtic midfielder has impressed at the Danish u21 level. His teammates also love him and even former Celtic players have been talking him up.
But O’Riley’s story as to how he got to Celtic, although is well documented, was a brave one. It takes a lot of bottle to leave a club without a contract in order to develop yourself and further your career.
And O’Riley did just that when he left Fulham to join the MK Dons. O’Riley went to train with the club and he impressed so much that after just 6 months they signed him up. [BBC]
Mk Dons defender Warren O’Hara played alongside O’Riley during his time at the club and he was speaking on the One Up Top podcast when he was asked about the best player he has ever played with.
O’Hara said [1h 8m], “The best player I ever played with was Matt O’Riley who’s at Celtic. Fair play to him, he left Fulham to come to us.
“And couldn’t play for us for four months. He wanted to leave Fulham because he wasn’t playing. He came to MK to train with us and he could only train for four months because they wouldn’t release him from his contract.
“In training, he was nothing mad like. No one was looking at him like that. Then he played for us and he was like a machine. Left foot, right foot.
“That’s why he got his move to Celtic. He played in the Bernabeu in the Champions League against Real Madrid and he’s just won the Treble.
“He’s probably the best. He deserves it [a move] and I think he’ll be getting one soon.”
O’Riley certainly is a talented footballer. The 22-year-old signed for Celtic in January 2022 and was an instant hit with the supporters after an impressive away debut at Tynecastle.
The midfielder quickly established himself as a mainstay in Ange Postecoglou’s team and was a critical part of Celtic winning the treble this season.
With speculation surrounding his future hitting the headlines this week, O’Riley made the positive move to leave his agents, who are also former manager Ange Postecoglou’s to allow his family to take over his affairs.
O’Riley is under contract at Celtic until 2026 and I am sure he will be a major player for whoever Celtic hire as their next manager.
In other news, Dane Murray makes Celtic return after 12-month injury absence; Ange’s previous praise
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