The summer transfer window officially slammed shut on Thursday evening after several months of incoming and outgoing business for Celtic‘s first-team.
Martin O’Neill added ten new faces to his squad during the window, five of which were signed permanently, and he will be hoping that they can all have a significant impact on the pitch this season.
Several of the new signings have come in as young players who are looking to take the next steps in their respective careers, potentially with the aim of making the leap to one of Europe’s major leagues in the future.
The Hoops have been a great vehicle for young players to use to progress their careers in recent seasons, with Matt O’Riley standing out as one of the best examples of their recruitment success.
How Matt O’Riley became a star at Celtic
In January 2022, Celtic swooped to sign attacking midfielder Matt O’Riley from English League One side MK Dons for an initial fee of £1.5m to bolster Ange Postecoglou’s squad.
The left-footed star did not arrive at Parkhead as the finished article. He had shown promise, though, with a return of ten goals and seven assists in 49 appearances in League One in his last 18 months with MK Dons.
O’Riley racked up four goals and three assists in 16 Scottish Premiership matches in the second half of the 2021/22 campaign, before continually progressing across the following two seasons.
|
Matt O’Riley (Premiership) |
22/23 |
23/24 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
38 |
37 |
|
Goals |
3 |
18 |
|
Minutes per goal |
843 |
181 |
|
Key passes per game |
2.2 |
2.5 |
|
Big chances created |
16 |
14 |
|
Assists |
12 |
13 |
The Denmark international truly hit his stride under Brendan Rodgers in the 2023/24 campaign, which was when he was able to combine regular goalscoring with consistent creativity.
He became a star because the Hoops provided him with the platform to flex his attacking skills in a dominant side that won the title in each of those seasons.
That form led to him earning a £25m move to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, making him the club’s joint-record sale alongside Jota and Kieran Tierney for the same fee.
Celtic may have already signed their next Matt O’Riley
Now, one of the club’s ten summer signings could be on his way to becoming the next version of O’Riley at Parkhead after joining as a young playmaker.
Earlier this week, the Scottish giants officially confirmed the signing of Joel van den Berg from PSV for a fee of £3.5m to bolster the manager’s options in the middle of the park.
The 19-year-old talent has put pen to paper on a four-year contract at Parkhead and can offer cover as both a central midfielder and as an attacking midfielder.
A multi-million pound fee for a player of his age suggests that the Premiership champions believe that he has significant potential, and his form in the Netherlands backs that up.
Van den Berg only played five times, starting once, in the Eredivisie for PSV’s first-team in the 2025/26 campaign, and was only an unused substitute for the senior side at the start of this season.
However, the £3.5m-rated talent’s form for the reserve side in the second tier of Dutch football suggests that the potential is there for him to eventually develop into an O’Riley-esque star.
|
Van den Berg (Eerste Divisie) |
25/26 |
26/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
26 |
3 |
|
xG |
5.27 |
1.20 |
|
Goals |
7 |
2 |
|
Minutes per goal |
304 |
132 |
|
Key passes per game |
1.5 |
2.3 |
|
Big chances created |
4 |
1 |
|
Assists |
3 |
0 |
He had already shown signs of progression in the early stages of this season for PSV’s second team, with a better minute per goal rate and more key passes per game on average.
The Netherlands U19 captain ended his career at PSV with 11 goals in 39 matches for their U21s team and six goals in 27 games for the U18 side, showing that he has the potential to offer a significant threat as a goalscorer from a number ten position.
His key pass numbers in the Eerste Divisie, though, indicate that the youngster also has the quality to offer consistent creativity as an attacking midfielder, which means that the Dutchman could pose a dual threat to defences as a scorer and a creator.
Therefore, van den Berg could go on to be Celtic’s next version of O’Riley because he has the potential to score goals and create chances for his teammates on a regular basis, and O’Neill will love him if he can do that consistently.
However, he has yet to prove himself on a consistent basis at first-team level and the next step for him is to use this platform at Parkhead to showcase his quality week-in-week-out in the Premiership.
