Surprising details emerge about Riley McGree to Celtic transfer deal

Riley McGree is not someone who had been linked with Celtic recently but that has taken a complete turn as it has emerged that the Hoops are closing in on a deal to sign him from Charlotte FC. He had spent time on loan at Birmingham City in the Championship recently and managed to impress. In fact, he has been one of the club’s best players and there were many calls from their fans to sign him on a permanent basis.

It does not look like that will happen though. And while many other Championship clubs are believed to have been interested as well, it is Celtic who appear to have swooped in for the Australian international.

Having already signed Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi, both midfielders, the move might raise a few eyebrows. And it does not look like the transfer fee will be small either.

As tweeted out by Sam Stejskal, Celtic are close to a deal and the initial transfer fee will be a little under £3 million, which could potentially rise another £1 million to £2 million depending on performance-based add-ons. That is significantly more than the rumoured £2 million figure from earlier in the day.

Celtic appear to be closing in on McGree

Of course, one cannot forget about the Australian connection with Postecoglou. In fact, the manager had handed McGree a national team call up when he was a teenager. Thus, it is clear that he is rated very highly.

And to be very honest, he has shown a lot of potential already, and could prove to be a solid signing for Celtic, if they can get the deal over the line. Also, McGree is still just 23 years of age and would be expected to improve further moving forward.

The only question is whether Celtic need him right now but ultimately, McGree might prove to be too good of a player to miss out on.