Celtic enjoyed a terrific start to their 2023/24 Scottish Premiership term as they beat Ross County 4-2 on the opening day at Parkhead.
Who scored for Celtic against Ross County?
David Turnbull, who scored twice, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Matt O'Riley all got their names on the scoresheet for the Hoops in Brendan Rodgers' first official match of his second spell at the club.
O'Riley has started his campaign with a goal after the Denmark international produced three in 38 appearances throughout the entire 2022/23 season, whilst he also registered an assist on Saturday.
The former Fulham midfielder is an outstanding attacking threat from the middle of the park and Rodgers could find a dream partner for him by completing a swoop for Manchester United's Scott McTominay, who is a reported transfer target for the Bhoys.
How good is Scott McTominay?
Across the 2021/22 campaign, the Scotland international showcased his ability as a defensive midfielder for the Red Devils and could be a fantastic signing for Celtic if he is able to translate that form over to Parkhead.
McTominay only started ten league matches under Erik ten Hag last term, which meant that the United academy graduate did not have many chances to impress, but thrived as a number six across 28 Premier League starts during the previous season.
The £78k-per-week titan averaged an outstanding 3.2 tackles and interceptions combined per game for the English giants and the 6 foot 4 giant displayed his ability in the air as he won 2.3 aerial battles per outing, with a success rate of 67%.
Last season, no Celtic central midfielder with at least one Premiership start managed more than 2.2 tackles and interceptions or 0.7 aerial duels won per clash.
This suggests that McTominay has the quality to be a phenomenal defensive presence at the base of Rodgers' midfield, which could provide O'Riley with even more opportunities to show off his attacking ability at the top end of the pitch.
The ex-MK Dons ace racked up an exceptional 12 assists and created 2.1 chances per game for his teammates in the league last term, which meant that he topped the charts for the club in both statistics.
O'Riley provided 16 'big chances' from midfield and chipped in with three goals as he proved himself to be a consistently impressive performer in possession who can open up the opposition's defence on a regular basis.
McTominay, however, is not an attack-minded midfielder who is likely to bomb forward and leave the defence exposed as he has only scored 19 goals and produced five assists in 209 first-team appearances for United.
The Scottish colossus, who was once lauded as a "monster" by his former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, could sit in midfield and use his defensive instincts to consistently cut out opposition attacks to protect the likes of Maik Nawrocki and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
This could, therefore, free up the likes of Reo Hatate, David Turnbull and O'Riley to go and do what they want to do on the ball without having to worry about the other side of the game as much, as they would have a terrific enforcer there to cover for them if the ball is turned over in midfield.