It looked for a good few days that Celtic were on the verge of making Australia international midfielder Riley McGree their fifth signing of the January transfer window.
But reports late last night claimed talks between the player and the club had broken down, and that Middlesbrough had come in and made the player a better offer. The latest news tonight is that he has a medical booked with them.
I know what some people reading this might say, but no, this is not a case of sour grapes. I was never that excited by the potential signing of McGree, as stated at the start of this article a few days ago: With Celtic on verge of signing another midfielder, should defence now be priority? – Champions 67
I mentioned in that article that he looked like a Ryan Kent type player, flashy with not a lot of substance.
I also listened to Clyde SSB on Monday night where a Birmingham City fan and podcaster came on the show to talk about McGree, who of course was on loan at Birmingham last season, and he basically said that he didn’t understand why Celtic were in for him and that he didn’t believe he was a good enough player for us. He mentioned that although he has ‘bags of energy’ he also said his end product wasn’t the best, which would align with my Ryan Kent comparison.
Was McGree ever going to come to Celtic and take the place of Rogic, or Turnbull, or Hatate or even McGregor? I don’t think so.
And if you also choose playing in the overrated English Championship for a few extra quid, over coming to a massive club like Celtic and winning trophies and playing in the Champions League or Europa League, then you don’t have the right mentality to succeed at a club like this.
Never seen the player play and had never heard of him before last week. But, if Ange wanted him it would be an embarassment to lose to any ‘Boro bid and we all know it.
Why embarrassing? They have offered him 30k q week? Get a grip £ talks in football.