Celtic star Matt O’Riley tipped to join Newcastle United in £10m+ deal – ‘they’re interested’, says expert
Celtic star Matt O’Riley has been backed to join Newcastle United in a £10million-plus deal.
That’s according to former Hibernian striker Tam McManus, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the midfielder’s future.
On 28 September, Football Scotland reported O’Riley was watched by Newcastle scouts as he played for Denmark Under-21s and scored against Croatia’s youth side.
The midfielder has made himself a staple of the Hoops’ side since moving north of the border in January 2021.
He has registered seven assists in 15 Premiership appearances this season and scored twice as Celtic lost 4-3 to Rennes on Saturday (10 December).
McManus insists O’Riley is good enough to secure Celtic a “huge” profit on the small fee they paid for him last winter.
“I do think he has the potential to be a Premier League player,” McManus told Football Insider‘s Ben Wild.
“He’s already a top player. I really, really like him. Celtic got him for a steal, it was something like £1.5million if I remember correctly.
“It was a steal and he is still only 22 years old. He has so much potential and he’s already a star for Celtic. He has a great left foot and he is getting better all the time.
“I think if he has another good season next year then maybe someone in the Premier League will have a sniff at him.
“It could be Newcastle. There have been plenty of stories about them watching him and they are always mentioned whenever his future comes up, we know they’re interested.
“Is he good enough to get into that team now, I’m not sure. But he has huge potential and he’s only 22. So who knows where he will be in a few years?
“It’s just great business from Celtic to sign players like that for those prices, for buttons. Then you have big clubs like Newcastle in there looking to sign him.
“You are looking at £10million at least, that’s a huge profit.”
In other news, a pundit has backed Celtic to agree ‘£25million’ Josip Juranovic deal.