Celtic: Riley McGree U-turn and £3m man's medical at Middlesbrough

Celtic look set to miss out on a fifth January signing as the on-off transfer of Riley McGree took another turn on Wednesday.

Reports suggest the Australian midfielder has undergone a medical at Middlesbrough ahead of a £3m move to Teesside being announced this week.

The former Melbourne City man was a target for Ange Postecoglou and recalled from a loan at Birmingham City by his parent club in the USA, Charlotte FC, with a view to making a permanent move.

However, it now appears he will not travel quite as far north as previously thought with the Riverside Stadium his destination and Chris Wilder’s side now believed to have won the race for his signature.

Riley McGree of Birmingham City in action during the Sky Bet Championship against Huddersfield Town. The player looks set to stay in Engalnd's second tier. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus)

McGree, an Australian international, was given a first Socceroos call-up by the current Celtic manager almost four years ago when he was aged just 18 and went on to earn seven caps, but the 23-year-old is now set to disappoint his former boss.

He has been contracted to Charlotte for 15 months but never turned out for the MLS side and was immediately loaned to England where he has played 30 games for Birmingham over two seasons, scoring three goals.

Postecoglou had targeted the central midfielder to join Johnny Kenny and his trio of Japanese signings – Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate – already recruited this month, but he will now be forced to turn to other targets having allowed Liam Shaw to exit on loan to Motherwell from his options in the middle of the park.

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