Celtic have had a fantastic record when it comes to signing players since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager. Of course, every move has not worked out, as will always be the case, but the rate of success has gone up significantly higher. The success of these transfers had a huge part to play as the club won the Premiership and Scottish League Cup in his very first season in charge, despite all the odds being stacked against the Hoops.

One transfer that Celtic failed to pull off during the Postecoglou era, is that of Riley McGree. The Australia star was believed to be closing in on a move to Parkhead in January before a twist, and ended up joining Middlesbrough instead.

Postecoglou has always maintained that Celtic always have more than one player in their sights and they moved quickly to sign Matt O’Riley from League One side, MK Dons. That move has proven to be a grand success for the Hoops.

On the other hand, McGree failed to gain promotion to the Premier League with Middlesbrough this season. He has maintained though that he made the right choice. As reported by the Daily Record, he told Optus Sport:

“You come to these decisions in moments in your career when you have to make decisions.

“I truly believe I made the right one. All respect to Celtic and Ange, but I am a Middlesbrough player.”

Further, when asked whether Postecoglou had called him, he said:

“Yes, he did.

“And it wasn’t easy, of course.

“But I did what I thought was right and I will stand by that until the day I die.”

McGree makes huge claim about Celtic move that failed to materialise

To be very honest, it is time to move on from the entire saga involving McGree. He is a Middlesbrough player now.

On the other hand, it did not end up hurting Celtic at all and O’Riley has proven to be an excellent signing for the club. Arguably better than McGree would have been.

This article was originally posted here