Brendan Rodgers seems to have a sprinkling of magic dust whenever it comes to developing young players at Celtic.
The Hoops support witnessed it during his first tenure with Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor and it seems like they are watching history repeat itself with 22-year-old midfielder, Matt O’Riley.
The future Denmark international scored another goal for Celtic in the 4-1 win over Hearts at Tynecastle and boss, Brendan Rodgers, shares what he told him when he arrived at the club for his second spell.
Rodgers said [BBC Sportsound], “He’s just getting better. He’s a young player that’s developing and improving.
“I said when I came in ‘You need to up your goals and for that, you just arrive into areas.’
“And to be fair to him, he does a lot of work on his game. He’s an outstanding young professional and he’s got great technique and, as I said, he’s shown that every week, but I see it every day.”
Watching O’Riley, it’s hard to believe that he is still just 22. The Danish u21 international looks like he has been playing like a seasoned professional for years.
Adding goals, as Rodgers has said, has added another dimension to his game. His bursts into the box are certainly paying dividends and his finish yesterday after just three minutes was just sublime.
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Not only that, but O’Riley’s defensive work has improved also. Celtic captain, Callum McGregor, mentioned post-match yesterday how Matt O’Riley is so important to Celtic and you will not find one person disagreeing with him.
The fans, and Rodgers, will be hoping that O’Riley continues to improve his form over the course of the season because the midfielder is making Celtic more and more exciting to watch every week.
Next up for Celtic is the Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid where the supporters will be hoping to more of O’Riley’s lung-bursting runs into the Spaniards’ box.
In other news, Callum McGregor says ‘incredible’ Celtic player is the best finisher he has ever played with at the club