The 22-year-old caught the eye way back when playing for England U16s
Matt O’Riley’s incredible rise to Celtic stardom has his former England U16 coach harking back to a time when the midfielder outshone current Manchester City hero Phil Foden.
O’Riley has proven to be arguably the best player in Scotland so far this season. The 22-year-old has racked up 13 goal contributions in 17 games across all competitions, taking his game to another level under Brendan Rodgers after excelling for Ange Postecoglou’s Treble-winning charges last campaign. His form culminated in a call-up for Denmark’s senior team in October before earning his full debut against Northern Ireland on Monday night.
And his rapid ascent has O’Riley’s former mentor Dan Micchice waxing lyrical about the Dane’s time with the England youth set-up. The Celtic star was born in the country but chose to commit to Denmark thanks to his mother’s ties to the Scandinavian nation. But it was with England where Micchice noticed the potential O’Riley had at a time when he was outperforming City playmaker Foden AND Manchester United winger Jaden Sancho.
Micchice – now a player development coach at Everton – told the Herald: “As we all know, you can have potential but until somebody actually gives you that chance to play then you will never know how good they really are.
“When I had Matt at under-16 level with England these youngsters all have potential. Fulfilling that potential is another thing altogether. In our England group, he was alongside the likes of Jayden Sancho and Phil Foden and he more than held his own in that exalted company.
“I remember a game Matt played against Holland in France and he was absolutely exceptional. He was in the midfield alongside Oliver Skipp who is at Tottenham now as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi. Foden was on the right and Sancho was on the left and Matt controlled the game.
