Celtic star 'on his way' to undergo Brighton medical as £25m Parkhead ace 'snapped' boarding flight down south
The Premier League outfit are on the brink of smashing the Scottish transfer record to snap up the Celtic midfielder
Celtic star Matt O’Riley has been pictured boarding an EasyJet flight down south ahead of finalising his record-breaking £25million plus transfer to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 23-year-old midfielder is travelling to the south coast to undergo a medical with the Seagulls after a deal was ‘agreed in principle’ with the Parkhead club on Friday evening.
According to Sky Sports, the finer details of the deal structure are still being discussed between both parties, but there is now a growing confidence that the Danish international’s move will be completed this weekend.
O’Riley is expected to break the Scottish transfer record in moving to the Amex Stadium for - surpassing the £25m sale of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal in 2019 and Jota to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia last summer - after Brighton fended off strong competition from across Europe to land one of their top targets.
While he won’t make Fabian Hurzeler’s matchday squad for the early kick-off against Manchester United this afternoon, O’Riley will now make the step up to ply his trade in of the best league’s in world football - two-and-a-half years on from arriving at Celtic Park under Ange Postecoglou for a bargain £1.5m from MK Dons.
Current boss Brendan Rodgers previously lauded O’Riley as a model professional who is only going to develop and improve. He stated last season: “Matt has had an absolutely brilliant season for us and it is great testament to his professionalism and how he has developed as a football player. The naturally, those players will attract attention. If you have done well, and done well at a club of this status and pressure then naturally the attention will come.”
Amid heightened speculation around his future earlier this month - with big-spending Serie A outfit Atlanta failing with a series of bids - Rodgers heaped praise on O’Riley attitude throughout the process. He admitted: “There’s absolutely no change in Matt’s demeanour or happiness. He respects and knows the privilege it is to play for Celtic. He knows what Celtic has given him and the development that comes from being here. So it’s not a burden for him to be at Celtic. He’s got a first-class attitude and that’s why we’ve been really comfortable with the situation he’s in. He’s a fantastic professional.”