Matt O'Riley has confessed that he's struggled to process the fact that he's no longer a Celtic player - although he believes it was the right time to move on.
The Hoops' Player of the Season has joined Brighton in a Scottish record £30million transfer package, bringing an end to a highly successful two-and-a-half years at Celtic Park.
O'Riley continued to grow since signing from MK Dons in 2022 and wasn't afraid to admit leaving the recent Double-winners has been emotional.
“It is hard," O'Riley, who featured over 120 times for Celtic, told Brighton's club media. "People probably don’t realise how big the club is until you get up there. It’s a real family club and one that I was made to feel welcome at 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. But I only leave with fond memories.
“Celtic made me mature a lot as a person. You need to win every single game. If you don’t win every single game, even if it’s against strong opposition like Rangers, then it’s an absolute disaster.
“So you really have to be on it and that relentless winning mentality has set me up for the next challenge. I hope I can bring some of that.”
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It's been a long summer of speculation surrounding O'Riley's future and the midfielder admits the stress that comes with multiple suitors chasing his services was beginning to become stressful.
It appeared that the 23-year-old was going to pen a deal with Atalanta in Serie A but after five rejected bids, they turned their attention elsewhere - paving the way for Brighton to pounce.
“It has definitely taken a while," he stated. "It got a little bit stressful over the last couple of weeks if I’m honest. I think the talks were ongoing for a couple of months but I’m just happy to be here now.”
Explaining why joining the English Premier League club was a no-brainer after positive talks with head coach Fabian Hurzeler, the Danish internationalist said: “It was definitely a good while ago - I want to say two months if I’m right. I obviously spoke to the manager and he did a really good job of selling the club, and we had a really nice chat.
"He told me where I would fit in in terms of the structure and I spoke to a lot of people about the feel of the place. I got the impression that everyone was really, really nice and that is something I like being a part of.”
