It is not unfair to say that Celtic were not exactly willing sellers when English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion came calling for the services of key midfielder Matt O’Riley in the summer of 2024, but we accepted that the now 24 year old talent wanted to test himself at that level, and we struck a good deal with a £25 million transfer fee.
We have obviously moved on from the player at Parkhead and made a few new gambles on his replacements as many fans will do on the likes of Betpanda UK, but we clearly continued to enjoy our own success on a domestic front last season, as well as making excellent progress in the revamped Champions League campaign that gave some great nights of action for the fans and the boardroom would definitely have welcomed the additional financial boost it would have delivered to our coffers.
However, as part of the original deal it was reported that we had also inserted a clause into the transfer that would promise us a percentage pay out on any profit that Brighton made when O’Riley subsequently moved on, but sadly and despite some strong rumours that this will happen in the next few weeks and months with it speculated that Serie A and potentially Napoli would be his next destination, it is beginning to look increasingly unlikely that we will now be in a position to capitalise on this clause.
Unfortunately for O’Riley his spell on the South Coast did not go to plan at all last season. The four capped Denmark international only went on to start 12 matches for them across all competitions, with an additional 11 showings from the substitutes but he did return two Premier League goals. His issue was not so much that he could not adjust it was basically the fact he was not allowed to settle as he was on the wrong end of a nasty injury following a shocking tackle in his very first match with the Seagulls – in fact it happened just eight minutes into his debut.
It looked like he might have the dream start he would have been hoping for as he was thrown straight in for his full debut for their EFL Cup clash against Crawley Town back in August, but as he recovered from the injury he then missed the next two months of action before he had fully completed his rehabilitation phase and then understandably it became a very mixed season for him as he got back to full fitness, and tried to fully find his feet with them and his new team mates.
Obviously this means that his current valuation has taken a hit and if he does now move on to Napoli, who have made a bit of a name for themselves as giving people second chances and letting them thrive in the Italian climate, then Brighton will likely just cut their losses and look to break even if they can.
That would obviously mean that no profit exists for our clause to be relevant, although again thankfully from our point of view last year’s European adventure would more than cover that particular projection for him moving on this summer.
It is a shame, it would have been a nice bounce to have but such is life.
Image Source: unsplash.com
