Swansea boss Russell Martin could have been forgiven for assuming new Celtic signing Matt O’Riley would have been joining him for a Championship relegation battle rather than a Scottish Premiership Treble tilt. After all Martin had been O’Riley’s manager at MK Dons when the young midfielder rejected a contract rumoured to have been significantly more lucrative from Fulham to ultimately train on West London public parks during the beginning of the pandemic, prior to signing the deal he picked up at Milton Keynes.
With O’Riley having a close professional relationship with Martin, Swansea appeared the destination for the player, however with the Swans unable to find the money for O’Riley’s release clause Martin had to admit defeat.
Instead, another rumoured Celtic target, Hannes Wolf, moved from the Bundesliga to the bottom end of the Championship on loan for six months, while O’Riley took a shot at title glory and Champions League football next season with Celtic.
Speaking to the Scotsman, Martin may have been disappointed, but considering his former manager admits O’Riley was receiving interest from of Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea prior to leaving Fulham, Martin seems certain the player was always destined for the top of the game.
“Back in 2020 I spoke to an agent who said he had this boy, Matt O’Riley, and he was refusing a new contract at Fulham. He got offered a very good contract, but was desperate to play. He didn’t want to be a squad player and was backing his ability to play first-team football.
“He was in talks with the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Southampton, Burnley, Chelsea but nobody could agree compensation with Fulham.
He came to train with us (MK Dons) and right away it was like, ‘Wow, he’s some player’ – good technically, two-footed, brilliant finisher and just a really intelligent footballer.“We really enjoyed having him and he was really enjoying it too. He said the way we played football suited him and he’d love to explore trying to sign. It took us three months to get something in place with Fulham.
“He took a wage that was probably about a fifth of what he was offered at Fulham just to play first-team football, because he knew how much it suited him. Matty sees the bigger picture. I’m convinced he’ll go on to play at the very top, but a huge part of his journey now is playing at a club as big as Celtic.”
Russell Martin’s loss is certainly looking like Celtic’s gain, and for a player who clearly believes in his own ability it may well be he’s going to get a chance to prove it sooner rather than later.
O’Riley wasn’t involved in the Scottish Cup fourth round win over Alloa Athletic on Saturday night as International clearance didn’t arrive on time, but the brutal impact of that game on Yosuke Ideguchi and particularly captain Callum McGregor leaves Celtic light on options. As such alongside international call ups for Daizen Maeda and Tom Rogic, there is every chance a debut for Matt O’Riley may well come at Tynecastle tomorrow night, perhaps alongside Reo Hatate in the No8 role O’Riley prefers to play.
If opportunity knocks and Ange Postecoglou gives O’Riley a baptism of fire at Tynecastle it appears his former manager believes he’ll have more than enough ability to handle the occasion.
Niall J
