It seemed he could be Koopmeiners’ heir in Bergamo, but instead he ended up a little further up, in Brighton. In the quintessential English seaside resort, Matt O’Riley he immediately suffered an injury that took him out of action for some time, causing him to return very recently. It is not a trivial goal, his with the Seagulls shirt: thirty-three minutes to overturn Manchester City, with the goal seven minutes from the end that gave the three points to the blue and white club.
Last season O’Riley was one of the best players in the Scottish Championship, if not the best. This led Brighton to invest 30 million in it, while Atalanta was left with 25 million plus bonuses.
On the day of the presentation at Brighton, he also admitted that there were other teams, namely Atalanta. “I’m very very happy. It’s taken a while and the last couple of weeks have been a bit stressful, I’m being honest because I think the conversation has lasted a good couple of months, but I’m really happy to be here. I also spoke to the manager (Hurzeler, ed.) on the phone, he ‘sold’ the club very well and we had a good chat. He didn’t get in my way as he could have done because I know I was in a position where potentially there were other clubs that were looking at me.” Matt O’Riley turns 24 today.