Nottingham Forest linked midfielder Riley McGree is set to stun Celtic and sign for Middlesbrough, according to The Northern Echo.
The Australian spent the first half of 2021/22 on loan with Birmingham City. He made 15 appearances, scoring two goals and claiming two assists.
McGree headed back to Charlotte FC ahead of their maiden campaign in the MLS. He now looks set to leave without making a first-team appearance for the club.
Chris Wilder looks to have got his man. It had seemed that Celtic had won the race to sign the player for £3 million over the weekend.
Now, it’s back to the drawing board for Ange Postecoglou, with McGree clearly keen to stick around in England.
The Daily Record claims that McGree will earn around £20,000-a-week at the Riverside Stadium and he’s likely to pen a long-term deal.
Wilder strengthened his ranks with the signing of Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun yesterday. Boro are in the top-six of the Championship and they’re eyeing a tilt at promotion.
The links to McGree always seemed odd from a Forest perspective. The 23-year-old typically operates through the middle and if the Reds do land an attacker it’s likely he’ll have the ability to play out wide.
Jed Wallace, Paul Mukairu and Josh Bowler have all been linked with a move to Forest this month.
Forest shouldn’t rue McGree miss too much
The youngster didn’t exactly set the league alight at Birmingham. He is at a nice age but given the finances involved, perhaps Forest won’t rue this miss too much.
Brennan Johnson and Philip Zinckernagel are still in the ranks and are likely to remain the first choice. With Zinckernagel on loan, another permanent wide option wouldn’t go amiss.
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Signing McGree, who largely plays through the middle, wouldn’t have made a deal of sense. If the Reds are going to fork out £2 million and a substantial wage, it’s likely to be on a player that suits Steve Cooper’s style a bit more.
That player isn’t McGree and Forest are probably better off out of that particular race.