Watch Matt O’Riley in his Mumbai 5-a-sides showreel!

Matt O’Riley appears to have got over the disappointment of missing out on a place in the Danish squad at the European Championships with some ease.

Despite an outstanding season at Celtic that saw him scoring 19 goals in a double success and attract a bid January bid from Atletico Madrid he missed out on the 26 man squad selected for Germany.

Rather than mope around feeling sorry for himself the close season break has allowed him to indulge in some globe trotting but not exclusively to the usual locations favoured by footballers.

The Maldives is popular with holidaying footballers, Copenhagen less so but in Mumbai you aren’t expecting to bump into European footballers- certainly not out enjoying a game of 5-a-sides.

Keeping his game in check the midfielder enjoyed a kick around in Mumbai, notching a trademark goal but looking a bit tired as he smiled at the camera afterwards.

Again, breaking the mould from other footballers O’Riley takes a more holistic view to playing and conditioning with Pilates an essential part of his daily routine as he maximises his ability.

While coming through the ranks at the Fulham Academy O’Riley worked alongside Coach Dish, it seems to have made a lasting impression with the midfielder taking a sideways step at MK Dons to make a huge career leap forward at Celtic. While his former coach returned to Mumbai the long distance coaching continued.

On his website Dish explained:

After doing numerous online courses in Football Management, Football Scouting, Sports Science, Sports Nutrition, and Sport Psychology from various institutions worldwide, I got my first shot at a well-recognized institute based in the U.K. I received a Post-Graduate Diploma in Performance Nutrition and became an accredited sports nutritionist by the international society of sports nutrition. I briefly started my business in 2016 when at the age of 24, I got an offer from Coventry University to study BSc. Sport and Exercise Science. I was flying!

Towards the end of my 2nd year, I received the excellent news that I would be working with Fulham Football Club. To work with an English football club was the 5-year goal I set at age 23, and I achieved it when I was 26. Working in a high-performance environment with high-performing athletes and staff, I was in my zone!

Celtic have certainly benefitted from O’Riley’s approach to self improvement, over two and a half seasons O’Riley has become increasingly influential, taking the switch in management from Ange Postecoglou to Brendan Rodgers in his stride and taking his game up a level or two.

As pre-season training begins with the transfer window open there is bound to be speculation that O’Riley could be moved on for a record Celtic transfer fee, if he does move on it will be with clearly defined targets as he searches out for improvements in every area of his life and game.