Denmark international Matt O'Riley is the Scottish Premiership's top scorer so far this season; he scored the opener in Celtic's 4-1 win at Hearts on Sunday; the club rejected a £10m bid from Leeds United in the summer
Monday 23 October 2023 12:37, UK
"A top-class player you could watch play football all day."
The plaudits for midfielder Matt O'Riley are increasing by the game as he stakes an early claim for Scotland's player of the year award.
His unbelievable volley in Sunday's 4-1 win at Hearts took his goal tally for the season so far to six as he moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership's scoring table.
The 22-year-old's impressive form earned him his first Denmark call-up during the international break and he picked up the Scottish Premiership player of the month award for September.
Sky Sports' Kris Boyd believes O'Riley will be "one of the next ones to go in terms of big money."
Boyd said: "You could sit and watch Matt O'Riley play football all day. He's a top-class player. He glides about the pitch and Brendan Rodgers has obviously asked him to get forward more this season. He is reaping the benefits of that.
"He was outstanding. Hearts never laid a glove on him."
It was Ange Postecoglou who signed O'Riley from MK Dons in January 2022 and he immediately became a key player for the Scottish champions.
In 72 appearances under the former Hoops boss, he scored eight goals and provided 16 assists, but under Brendan Rodgers he is already showing more.
The former Fulham youth, who agreed a new four-year deal at Parkhead last month, has netted six goals in nine league appearances to help Celtic to their seven-point lead at the top of the table.
O'Riley told Sky Sports the reason for his scoring form is simple: "I've probably been getting in the box more this season and when you get in the box more, you're naturally going to score more goals."
Celtic turned down a £10m bid from Leeds United in the summer, with Rodgers saying at the time he believed he would benefit from staying in Glasgow.
"Matt knows that I'm investing in him to help him become better. He still knows he's got a bit to improve," he said.
"And hopefully this part of the season is confirmation for him that I can still improve him.
"Certainly his value will increase in 12 months' time.
"Of course, we would love to keep him here and he still has a lot of development to go.
"But he is showing some great signs. He has a wonderful attitude and is ambitious, but ambitious for Celtic as well as himself. If we can tie him down for longer then all the better of course."
O'Riley set up Kyogo Furuhashi for his goal at Tynecastle Park, taking him to two assists this season which is just one behind his captain Callum McGregor who has also been quick to heap praise on him.
"He's been superb. He came back in the summer in incredible condition," he told Sky Sports.
"He deserves his vein of form, he's such an important player for the team. A top player."
Former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov was also watching the match in Gorgie for Sky Sports.
"He's become very valuable for Celtic. His overall game is maturing," he added.
"He sees the game differently, he plays the ball quicker. This is what makes you stand out from other midfielders. The goal [on Sunday] was a perfect example of what he does best."
Follow every Celtic game in the Scottish Premiership this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free.
Want the Celtic latest? Bookmark our Celtic news page, check out Celtic's fixtures and Celtic's latest results, watch Celtic's goals and video, keep track of the Scottish Premiership table and see which Celtic games are coming up live on Sky Sports.
Get all this and more - including notifications sent straight to your phone - by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Celtic as your favourite team.
