Tottenham Hotspur are apparently interested in signing Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley, who has already confessed that Ange Postecoglou enhanced him as a player.
After such a good start to the season under Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs are set to bolster their roster in January.
Tottenham will be without Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma in January owing to the Africa Cup of Nations, which may necessitate a midfield reshuffling.
Indeed, SportSynergy reported on Tuesday that Spurs are one of many Premier League clubs keeping an eye on Matt O’Riley.
The Danish midfielder thrived at Celtic and worked with Postecoglou throughout his time at Parkhead.
And O’Riley has already hailed Postecoglou as the manager from whom he has learned the most in his career.
O’Riley has already lauded Posetcoglou in the midst of Tottenham transfer speculation.
O’Riley was previously accused of mocking Postecoglou after his departure by praising Brendan Rodgers’ man-management skills.
But, back in July, the 22-year-old tried to dispel any conjecture about his words and thanked Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino for helping him progress as a player.
“I don’t recall saying anything negative about the previous manager!” It was possibly exaggerated. It’s simply different management methods,” O’Riley explained to The Scottish Sun.
“I improved so much as a player under the previous manager.” So I can’t say I disliked him because he was the one from whom I learned the most during my career. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with him.
“Their styles are definitely quite distinct. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way to do things. Brendan had previous success here, but Ange showed that when he was here, he had significant success and obviously landed a great, nice job. Having multiple types to work with early in my career will benefit me.”
Postecoglou has been known to intentionally maintain a distance between himself and his players in order to avoid relationships influencing his judgment.
While O’Riley’s first comments on Rodgers were misinterpreted as a shot at Postecoglou, the midfielder soon corrected that.
During their time together in Glasgow, the Dane improved drastically under the Australian’s tutelage and was signed by Postecoglou in January 2022.
Under Postecoglou, he made an immediate impact, assisting the Bhoys to a double in his debut season.
O’Riley appeared 52 times for Celtic during their treble-winning season last year, assisting on 18 goals.
Spurs have a lot of choices in midfield, but with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s future uncertain, O’Riley could be a good option.
The playmaker has demonstrated his versatility in midfield and would provide another creative option alongside James Madison.
