Celtic have their next Matt O’Riley in the making & he’s rarely playing

Celtic misplaced one other star participant throughout the summer season switch window after they offered electrical ahead Nicolas Kuhn to Serie A aspect Como for a price of £16.5m.

The German attacker ended the 2024/25 marketing campaign with a return of 21 targets and 15 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish Premiership champions, per Transfermarkt.

Kuhn offered an enormous menace on the prime finish of the pitch down the fitting flank as a result of he had the standard to trigger the opposition issues as each a scorer and a creator of targets, domestically and in Europe.

The Hoops didn’t signal a pure proper winger to exchange the German, although, and Hyun-jun Yang and James Forrest have mixed for no targets or assists in 9 mixed appearances within the Premiership this season, per WhoScored.

This implies that Celtic are struggling on the fitting wing as a result of they didn’t exit into the market to signal a like-for-like alternative for the left-footed attacker.

One other participant the Hoops have but to completely change since they offered him for large cash is attacking midfielder Matt O’Riley, who joined Brighton & Hove for a price of greater than £25m final 12 months.

Why Matt O’Riley was so priceless for Celtic

The Scottish giants raked in a club-record price of £25m from the Premier League aspect after they determined to money in on the Denmark worldwide. This was due to the worth that he offered on the pitch for the Bhoys within the 2023/24 marketing campaign.

Brendan Rodgers arrived at Parkhead in the summertime of 2023 to exchange Ange Postecoglou within the dugout in Glasgow, and he was key to O’Riley’s spectacular development on the pitch.

The left-footed midfielder scored three targets and offered 12 assists within the Premiership within the 2022/23 marketing campaign underneath the Australian head coach, which was a powerful return given his inventive output.

Rodgers, although, elevated O’Riley to the subsequent stage at Parkhead by liberating him as much as tackle extra duty as a goalscorer, placing him additional up the pitch to interrupt into the field by becoming a member of assaults.

As you possibly can see within the desk above, the English-born playmaker scored 15 extra targets underneath Rodgers than he did underneath Postecoglou within the earlier Premiership season.

Per WhoScored, O’Riley led the workforce in each targets (18) and assists (13) within the Premiership in that season underneath the Northern Irish head coach, which is why he was so priceless to the squad, as each a scorer and a creator of targets.

These statistics and his significance to Celtic satisfied Brighton to splash a price of greater than £25m on him in the summertime of 2024, and the Scottish giants are nonetheless in search of their subsequent model of the Dane.

Benjamin Nygren has proven flashes of promise in a central midfield function, with three targets and one help this season, and Arne Engels delivered 9 assists within the Premiership and the Champions League mixed final season, per Sofascore.

Nonetheless, Celtic might have their subsequent Matt O’Riley within the making within the type of a participant who has been hardly ever utilized by Rodgers, a lot in order that he has performed fewer minutes than each Nygren and Engels.

Portugal U21 worldwide Paulo Bernardo has not had too many alternatives to impress in the course of the park, however has proven potential to grow to be a powerful participant sooner or later.

Why Paulo Bernardo could possibly be the subsequent Matt O’Riley for Celtic

Signed on a everlasting deal from Benfica in the summertime of 2024 after a mortgage spell within the 2023/24 marketing campaign, the central midfielder has fallen down the pecking order in the beginning of this season.

Luke McCowan, Callum McGregor, Benjamin Nygren, Arne Engels, and Reo Hatate have all performed extra minutes than Bernardo within the Premiership, per WhoScored, which exhibits that the supervisor charges different gamers forward of him in his place at this second in time.

The Portuguese star has solely performed 74 minutes within the league. This comes after he began 13 of his 28 outings within the division within the 2024/25 marketing campaign, and confirmed loads of indicators of actual high quality on the prime finish of the pitch.

As you possibly can see within the desk above, Bernardo excelled towards his positional friends per 90 in a number of key offensive metrics, in each scoring and creating targets.

These statistics recommend that the previous Benfica starlet, who was described as “tenacious” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, may present a giant menace on the prime finish of the pitch from midfield as each a scorer and a creator of targets if given the possibility to begin week-in-week-out and play extra minutes for the Hoops.

His help, for O’Riley in actual fact, within the clip above illustrates the sort of high quality that Bernardo can present within the opposition’s field when he’s free to push ahead and take part with assaults to make issues occur within the ultimate third.

The Portuguese whiz is a inventive and silky attacking midfielder who has the flexibility to attain and create targets at a powerful fee when allowed to precise himself on the pitch, however Rodgers has hardly ever given him a possibility to try this.

Celtic’s supervisor elevated O’Riley to the subsequent stage by enjoying him week-in-week-out and pushing him up the pitch to attain targets, and Bernardo has the potential to observe within the Dane’s footsteps.

However it’s now right down to Rodgers to offer the 23-year-old star with extra possibilities from the begin to enable him to search out some consistency in his performances and his finish product on the way in which to being the membership’s subsequent O’Riley.