Brighton & Hove Albion have completed the signing of Matt O’Riley from Celtic.
The Premier League club have paid their Scottish counterparts £25million for the Denmark international.
The Athletic reported O’Riley’s move was close on Saturday and the midfielder has now signed a five-year contract with Brighton.
“He plays a very specialist position; he is very good at occupying and attacking the right space,” head coach Fabian Hurzeler said on the new signing. “He likes making deep runs, and know when to attack at the right time.
“He enjoys getting forward and attacking the opponent’s penalty area, but he also has a good defensive instinct. That balance makes him special. He is a great character, and has a good ambition to succeed and that’s something which is very important for us.”
GO DEEPER
Celtic, AC/DC and persuasive Postecoglou – watching Matt O’Riley with his parents
O’Riley was named as Celtic’s player of the year last season after registering 19 goals and 18 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions for the Scottish Premiership side. He joined Celtic from MK Dons in 2022, having come through the ranks at Fulham before joining the League One club.
O’Riley is the latest addition in what has been a busy summer of incomings at Brighton. The south-coast side have already signed Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Malick Yalcouye, Brajan Gruda and Ibrahim Osman, who has since joined Dutch club Feyenoord on loan.
Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbahce also said on Friday that they had given permission for versatile left-sided player Ferdi Kadioglu to travel to Brighton for talks and a medical. Kadioglu, 24, impressed during the European Championship for Turkey and started all of their games as they reached the quarter-finals.
O’Riley had started all three of Celtic’s matches to begin the 2024-25 season. He has been capped twice by Denmark but was left out of the squad for the Euros earlier this summer.
Brighton have made a perfect start to life under Hurzeler, who has overseen back-to-back victories in his first two games in charge. They are second in the table behind defending champions Manchester City following wins over Everton and Manchester United.
Brighton are next in action at Arsenal on Saturday.
(Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
