Matt O’Riley transfer chase heats up as Premier League giants run rule over Celtic star on Denmark Under-21s duty
NEWCASTLE ran the rule over Celtic star Matt O’Riley with Denmark’s Under-21s this week.
Magpies scouts saw Celtic ace O'Riley open the scoring in a 2-1 win in 90 minutes over Croatia in the Euros play-offs, before a painful penalty shootout loss.
The 21-year-old recently revealed the big-spending Magpies have shown interest in him.
O’Riley has been a standout for Celtic since arriving from MK Dons for £1.5million in January.
A host of English and European clubs have been monitoring him — with the midfielder confirming the 'Toon and Leicester among them.
O’Riley said: “I know Leicester showed a lot of interest in me. I think Newcastle were there too.
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“I didn’t think about it because nobody from Celtic told me Newcastle had made an offer.
"It wasn’t like that, so there wasn’t much to think about.”
Rangers were also on the official scouting list for the Under-21 clash.
O’Riley has revealed if it hadn’t been football for him it may well have been golf — or even tennis.
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He said: “When I was about seven or eight, I played all three sports at quite a good level.
“I was playing tennis tournaments, golf events and football too.
“I thought I was half-decent at them — I chose football because I enjoyed it most at the time.
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“But it could have been a very different route.
“I think that whichever one I pursued, I could have done it."
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