“All documents being signed,” Fabrizio Romano on conclusion of Matt O’Riley’s Brighton deal | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Matt O’Riley transfer from Celtic to Brighton is now at the document signing stage.

The Celtic Player of the Year yesterday travelled south to undergo his medical before completing his move today. Now that that is out the way the deal worth up to £30m for Celtic will now be concluded and Matt O’Riley will be a Brighton player.

O’Riley arrived from MK Dons in the January 2022 transfer window, making no secret of the fact that he decided to accept the Celtic offer as this was the club that he could develop as a player over a few years before moving on to play at the top of the game in one of the top leagues.

Matt O’Riley of Celtic arrives prior to the Premier Sports Cup match between Celtic and Hibernian at Celtic Park on August 18, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Yet Matt O’Riley made the most of every single day at Celtic, appreciating everything about the club and having a wonderful relationship with the Celtic support. When Ange Postecoglou left for Tottenham and Brendan Rodgers came in, O’Riley’s game went up a level and he was the classiest player in Scottish football last season, starring in the Champions League and adding goals to his game.

Yet somehow the hacks made Lawrence Shankland their Player of the Year. But money talks in football and the £30m deal maybe shows that Matt was under appreciated across the game, or maybe it was just jealousy?

Matt leaves Celtic with everyone connected with the club’s best wishes and there will most likely be a further reason down the line to appreciate his contribution to the Celtic cause. Brighton, like Celtic, are a development club and a few seasons starring for the Seagulls in the Premier league will probably see him move up a level to one of the top Champions League sides in England or Spain.

Matthew O’Riley and Lazio’ defender  Elseid Hisaj vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic and Lazio at Celtic Park on October 4, 2023. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

That will give Celtic a substantial windfall. On a smaller scale MK Dons will most likely be entitled to a windfall from the current deal and that will be a significant boost for them.

Hail Hail, Matt, go smash it up in the Premier League.

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