Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing a move for Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley – who’s already admitted Ange Postecoglou improved him so much as a player.
Spurs look set to bolster their squad in January after such a promising start to the season under Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham will be without Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma in January due to the Africa Cup of Nations, which could lead to the North Londoners bolstering their midfield.
Indeed, TEAMtalk claimed on Tuesday that Spurs are one of many Premier League sides monitoring Matt O’Riley.
The Danish midfielder has excelled at Celtic and worked under Postecoglou during the Aussie’s spell at Parkhead.
And O’Riley has already praised Postecoglou as the manager he’s learned the most from in his career so far.
O’Riley has already praised Posetcoglou amid Tottenham transfer links
O’Riley was previously accused of aiming a dig at Postecoglou after his departure as he praised Brendan Rodgers for his man-management style.
But the 22-year-old moved to clear up any speculation over his comments back in July and praised the Spurs boss for helping him to improve as a player.
“I don’t think I said anything bad about the previous manager! It was maybe blown out of proportion a little bit. It’s just different managerial styles,” O’Riley told The Scottish Sun.
“Under the previous manager I got so much better as a player. So I can’t say I didn’t like him at all because he’s the one I have learned most from in my career. I am very grateful to have been able to work with him.
“In terms of their styles, yeah, it’s very different. I don’t think there is any right or wrong way. Brendan had previous success here but Ange showed when he was here he had major success and obviously got himself a really good move from it. For me to have different styles to work with early in my career will help me.”
Postecoglou has been known to purposely keep a distance between himself and his players to avoid relationships affecting his judgement.
While O’Riley’s initial comments on Rodgers were taken as a dig at Postecoglou, the midfielder quickly moved to clear that up.
The Dane did improve dramatically under the Aussie’s guidance during their time together in Glasgow and was snapped up by Postecoglou in January 2022.
He made an instant impact under Postecoglou and helped the Bhoys to a double in his first season.
During Celtic’s treble-winning season last time out, O’Riley featured 52 times – registering 18 goal involvements in the process.
Spurs boast a wealth of options in midfield but with doubt surrounding Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s future, O’Riley could be a smart option for Spurs.
The playmaker has shown he can fill multiple roles in midfield and would provide another creative outlet alongside James Maddison.