Brighton have paid £25m to sign midfielder Matt O’Riley from Celtic, the Scottish champions.
The Danish international, originally from London, has committed to a five-year contract expiring in June 2029.
At just 23 years old, O’Riley scored 27 goals in 124 matches for Celtic, winning an impressive six trophies, including three Scottish Premiership titles.
“I’m very, very happy,” he said in an interview on Brighton’s website.
“It got a little bit stressful over the last couple of weeks, if I’m being honest, because I think the talks were ongoing for a good couple of months, but I’m just thrilled to be here now.”
This deal matches the transfer fee that Al-Ittihad paid Celtic for Jota last summer, which was also the Scottish record, and Kieran Tierney’s £25m transfer to Arsenal in 2019.
Additionally, it signifies a substantial return on the £1.5m Celtic paid for O’Riley from MK Dons in 2022.
On leaving Celtic, O’Riley said: “It is hard. People probably don’t realize 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, just in terms of the passion the fans had, [it] is something I had never experienced before. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
“It is still a little bit emotional speaking about it because I had such good memories there, but it just felt like the right time for a new challenge for me.”
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said O’Riley’s abilities as a box-to-box midfielder made him “special”.
“He is a great character and has a good ambition to succeed, and that’s very important for us,” Hurzeler added.
O’Riley is now Brighton’s seventh signing of a busy summer, which includes a £40m club-record deal for French forward Georginio Rutter from Leeds and Netherlands midfielder Mats Wieffer joining from Feyenoord for about £25.5m.
Hurzeler’s team is currently in second place in the Premier League, winning against Everton and Manchester United in their first two matches.