O’Riley ‘Signing Brighton Documents’ as Celtic Exit Nears

Celtic fans are set to realise their worst transfer window nightmare in the coming days, according to reports, as Matt O’Riley is expected to sign for Brighton & Hove Albion with the documents over his potential move being ‘prepared’, states Fabrizio Romano.

The Danish international signed for the Hoops two-and-a-half years ago from Milton Keynes Dons, and instantly got to work under Ange Postecoglou by becoming a key part of Celtic’s midfield alongside Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor. The midfielder has gone from strength to strength which has been of huge benefit to the Hoops, but that ultimately has seen clubs across the continent register their interest with Brighton seemingly having won the race.

O’Riley Poised to Seal Move to South Coast

Midfielder is set to sign on the dotted line to leave Parkhead

The report from Romano states that O’Riley and Ferdi Kadioglu are both expected to sign for Brighton in the coming days, with ‘all documents being signed’ ahead of two arrivals on the south coast.

The Celtic midfielder is set to leave Glasgow for a fee in the region of £30million once add-ons are included, breaking the Scottish transfer record sale with the Hoops having seen Jota and Kieran Tierney depart for fees in the region of £25million in 2023 and 2019 respectively to Al-Ittihad and Arsenal.

The deal for Kadioglu is slightly less at €30million (£25.5million), but it’s a huge double outlay from the south coast side who are looking to capitalise on their strong start in the Premier League, having won their opening two games with last weekend’s 3-0 drubbing of Everton and Saturday’s last-gasp victory at home to Manchester United.

But for Celtic, it oversees the sale of what is undoubtedly their biggest asset and as a result, the Hoops must replace their midfield supremo with an attack-minded star who will replace the goals and assists that O’Riley will leave behind once his move to the south coast is confirmed.

O’Riley’s Absence Will be Felt at Celtic

The midfielder provided a lot of Hoops’ goals last year

O’Riley nabbed 18 goals and 13 assists in the Scottish Premiership last season, meaning that his goal contributions being lost will be a huge loss for the Hoops as they aim to secure a fourth consecutive top-flight title. Brendan Rodgers will know the effect that O’Riley’s sale will have on his season, but with £30million to spend following his exit, the Parkhead outfit can afford to massively strengthen elsewhere in their squad.

A left-back could be brought in and after years of reports touting Tierney with a fairytale move back to his boyhood club, he could feature in a green and white shirt once again – whilst a midfielder will evidently be needed to replace O’Riley’s output.

The Hoops didn’t fully spend all of the money garnered from Jota’s sale last summer and so there is still some left to splash, though they have spent large on the arrivals of Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo and Viljami Sinisalo this summer despite Oh Hyeon-gyu and Sead Haksabanovic departing the club earlier in the transfer window.

Kyogo Furuhashi has also been linked with a move to Manchester City but with O’Riley’s move bringing in a lot of cash, Celtic likely won’t be enticed into a deal this late in the transfer window and as a result, it will be a busy end to the window for Rodgers and his recruitment team.

Related

Celtic Interested in Sheffield United Defender Auston Trusty

The former Arsenal defender may be on his way out of Bramall Lane.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 25-08-24.