‘Nobody had heard of him’: Neil Lennon says Celtic 22-year-old now the ‘best player’ in Scotland

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Neil Lennon has waxed lyrical about Matt O’Riley and the performances he is putting in for Celtic.

Like many Celtic transfers, Matt O’Riley arrived as an unknown figure from MK Dons in 2022, and since then, he has grown into a key player for Ange Postecoglou and now Brendan Rodgers.

Neil Lennon admitted that he had never heard of the quick-thinking playmaker prior to his move up to Scotland, but he now feels he is ‘the best player in the country’, as he told PLZ Soccer.

One thing is for sure, Matt O’Riley has taken his game up a few levels this season after winning the Treble last time out.

In 14 games in all competitions this season, he has six goals and four assists to his name (transfermarkt) and is perhaps now the first name on the teamsheet for Celtic.

This all stems from the work Matt O’Riley put in this summer because Callum McGregor shared that, in pre-season, he came back different animal.

But it’s not just his Celtic skipper who O’Riley is impressing, with Nell Lennon also loving what he is seeing from the playmaker.

Matt O’Riley – the best in Scotland

“O’Riley is a classic example,” said Lennon. “Nobody had ever heard of O’Riley. He comes over from MK Dons and three years down the line, he is now the best player in the country, probably.”

Keeping hold of O’Riley

Surprise, surprise. The transfer noise around the rising Danish star is starting to grow, which is both good and bad news for the club.

On one hand, he is doing something very right to attract interest from England, including from Postecoglou’s Tottenham.

If O’Riley moves, then everyone knows Celtic will get a very big transfer fee for him.

But, on the other, you want the powers that be at Parkhead to keep him at the club because it will continue the dominance on the domestic scene, as well as try and help the club progress in Europe.