Bitterly disappointed to be relegated from the Premier League, Leeds United’s initial transition back to Championship life was bumpy.
Off-field drama saw a number of first-team players depart, a new manager in Daniel Farke had to come in and pick up the pieces and there’s now an increased expectation on Leeds to do well – with those who possibly want an immediate return to the top-flight and not to be submerged in second tier football for too long.
Going without a win in their first three matches had the alarm bells ringing momentarily.
But, ever since winning 4-3 at Ipswich, Farke has managed to turn the mess around at Leeds and catapult them up to third in the table at the time of writing.
Their last performance saw Leeds pull off an impressive comeback win at Carrow Road, Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville leading by example with two late strikes to spearhead a 3-2 victory.
New personnel added into the building have stood out, Joel Piroe and Ethan Ampadu adding considerable strength to the Whites – Piroe leading the way as Leeds’ top scorer, five goals from nine matches played for the Whites whilst Ampadu ensures Leeds has a competent holding midfielder.
Yet, even in spite of it all clicking at Elland Road now, Leeds could well reignite their interest in Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley as a transfer target to add in another exciting player to help with the promotion push.
Are Leeds interested in Matt O’Riley?
Branded as a “wonderful footballer” by current manager Brendan Rodgers, the two-time Celtic head coach will be hoping and praying that he can keep hold of his 22-year-old attacking midfielder for the foreseeable future.
But, as has been reported by the Scotsman, Leeds had concrete interest in the former MK Dons man this summer and fielded a bid for him which was then rejected by the Scottish superpower.
Leeds may not be deterred by this rejection of O’Riley however, the dynamic midfielder could well be integral to the Whites if he joined in further adding quality up top and helping them to become dominant at this level.
How good is Matt O’Riley?
O’Riley has been electric for Celtic ever since he made the switch from MK Dons to the Glasgow giants, with the talented gem making the Scottish Premiership his very own playground to show off his immense qualities.
He has a stunning six goals from twelve matches this season so far for Celtic – outscoring Leeds’ main man Joel Piroe by one goal from the centre of the park.
In Celtic’s 2-1 away win at Motherwell recently, O’Riley accumulated a fantastic 8.8 score overall from the ninety minutes on Sofascore. The 22-year-old completed seven key passes, on top of scoring in the 97th minute to help Brendan Rodgers’ men clinch a last-gasp victory.
For a player who doesn’t necessarily feature in a conventional attacking sense for Celtic, his shooting statistics stand out as a midfielder unafraid to contribute in that regard and help out the attackers.
He’s registered an average of 1.73 shots on target per 90 minutes for the SPL frontrunners this campaign per FBRef, an option that could give Leeds even more firepower up top if he was signed by Daniel Farke.
O’Riley could even slot into an attacking midfield role currently occupied by Joel Piroe, enabling Farke to rejig his formation and start the former Swansea striker up top alongside a revitalised figure in Georgino Rutter.
O’Riley should be targeted by Leeds as he could be a remarkable talent in the second tier of English football, and the club must now go back in for the £8m-rated (via FootballTransfers) whiz.
