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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

Riley McGree and the Celtic transfer foreshadowing as move for Australian hiding in plain sight

It's been a busy month for Celtic and boss Ange Postecoglou with four new arrivals already secured ahead of a pivotal second half of the season.

Japanese trio Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi have arrived and they will be joined by rising Sligo Rovers striker Johnny Kenny.

Postecoglou made his intentions clear before the window opened as the 56-year-old admitted he needed more to bolster a squad with designs on wrestling back the Premiership title from Rangers.

And there could be another imminent arrival with Riley McGree in the mix for a switch to Celtic.

The Australian has spent the past 15 months on loan at Birmingham City and received rave reviews for his displays in the English Championship.

But Parkhead appears set to be his next destination with the for the 23-year-old, who is currently under contract with MLS expansion side Charlotte.

Postecoglou, who has managed the Australia national team and Socceroos youth teams, is acutely aware of emerging talent Down Under and gave him his big shot.

And he told supporters last month that his non-stop quest to secure untapped gems on the other side of the world extended beyond the J-League.

The 56-year-old said: "And it's not just Kyogo. If you look at all the big leagues around the world, you'll see Asian players.

"Not just from Japan but from Korea, from Australia, from Iran. There are some very good footballers on that side of the world.

"But if people don't want to look there, I'm happy to be the only one."

(Getty Images)

Celtic are no strangers to the Australian market, with Tom Rogic enjoying his best season since Brendan Rodgers exited under his national team.

And the interest in McGree is another timely reminder that the man making the decisions in Glasgow's east end is keen to cast his net wide in the search for new signings.

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