Report: Second-placed club hijack Arsenal interest in £35k-a-week player, Arteta praised him this year

By Dom Toner

Celtic are reportedly keen on signing Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan, amid interest from Arsenal. 

The Scottish Sun claims that new Celtic manager Ange Postecoglo wants to bring the 29-year-old to Scotland. Additionally, it mentions interest from Arsenal, which is something that has been heavily reported in the past month. 

Postecoglou has previously worked alongside Ryan with Australia’s national side, so perhaps that could give second-placed club Celtic some kind of advantage in the transfer race. 

Ryan, who spent the second half of this season on loan with Arsenal, has one year remaining on his Brighton contract. 

Sky Sports claim that Arsenal, along with clubs in Spain and France, want to try sign the shot-stopper on a permanent deal. The £35,000-a-week star is expected to leave Brighton this summer. 

Intriguingly, Ryan has gone on record to speak about his future. He mentioned loan club Arsenal as a possible destination for himself, as relayed by The Boot Room. 

Arsenal need to wrap up Mat Ryan deal quickly with Celtic lurking

Celtic finished second in the Scottish league last season, but Parkhead could be an attractive destination once again as they build a new-look team to challenge Rangers. 

For Ryan, surely he would be confident of being the number one goalkeeper if he ended up at Celtic. 

However, Arsenal should hope they can get him back at the Emirates Stadium. 

He only played a few games for the north London club during his short-term loan, but he’s an extremely solid back-up option in goal.

Additionally, he’s someone that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praised earlier this year.

“He’s settled really quickly. I was really impressed when I talked to him. He’s really focused, really engaged with what we want to do,” Arteta said in January.

“He’s a very professional guy and he’s coming here to compete with Alex [Runarsson] and with Bernd [Leno]. That’s the mentality and the desire that we want for any player that joins our club.”

In other news, ‘Love him to join’, ‘Hendo engine’: Some Liverpool fans want 24-year-old signed after display