Matt O'Riley makes emotional Celtic claim in first Brighton interview

Matt O'Riley has been officially announced as a Brighton & Hove Albion player, bringing an end to the long-running saga around his Celtic future. The Danish midfielder had been linked with a move away from Parkhead for months, with clubs like Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Juventus, Ataltana and several others rumoured to hold an interest. But ultimately, the Seagulls have won the race for his signature.

O'Riley has been very smart with his career decisions so far. He did make a brave move leaving Fulham for MK Dons early in his career and it has certainly paid off for him.

Of course, Celtic fans are not happy seeing the club's best player leave. But at the same time, they are somewhat used to it, having seen so many others make the same trip before O'Riley.

The decision to leave Celtic is certainly one that O'Riley did not take lightly and he had nothing but positive things to say about the club following his departure. As reported by the Daily Record, when asked about how difficult leaving was, the Danish midfielder told Brighton & Hove Albion media:

"It is hard. People don’t realise how big the club is until you get up there, It’s a real family club and I was made to feel welcome very early on.

"It’s a very unique place in terms of the passion the fans had is something I had never experienced before. I throughly enjoyed my time there. It is still a little bit emotional speaking about it because I had such good memories there, but like I said it just felt like the right time for a new challenge."

Matt O'Riley makes emotional Celtic claim in first Brighton interview

It was certainly a pleasure to see O'Riley's development as a player at Celtic as well. He truly became the club's best over his two-and-a-half years in Glasgow.

It is easy to forget that he was not even the club's first-choice signing in the winter of 2022. He was brought in after a move for Riley McGree did not end up materialising. And it would be safe to say that Celtic were lucky with how things worked out.

O'Riley has been a class act and a true professional, even when he was on the verge of leaving. We can only wish him the best in this next chapter. Thank you for everything, Matt. You'll never walk alone.