How Brighton’s brand new £25m man can transform the way the Seagulls play

Brighton & Hove Albion have got their season off to an extremely promising start with back-to-back wins over Everton and Manchester United, and they’ve also invested heavily in new signings this summer – the latest of which, Matt O’Riley, could have a big impact for the Seagulls after arriving from Celtic.

The London-born Denmark international, who is also celebrating a return to the international squad under new coach Morten Wieghorst, cost a Scottish record-equalling £25m, making him one of five summer signings who cost more than Brighton had ever paid for a player prior to João Pedro’s arrival last summer. For that kind of cash, he’d better be good – and fortunately, it looks like he is.

At Celtic, the 23-year-old O’Riley played on the right side of a midfield three and it’s likely that he will take up the role currently played by the experienced James Milner in Fabian Hürzeler’s 4-2-3-1 system. That role sees Milner act as part of a double pivot off the ball, screening the defensive line, while getting forward into the channels down the right hand side in support of (and often outside) the right winger, a position which Yankuba Minteh is currently making his own.

That’s exactly the position that O’Riley was built to play. A dynamic box-to-box player, he contributes huge amounts off the ball and in defence while creating a substantial amount of chances going forward – over the course of the last year, for example, O’Riley has generated an impressive four shooting chances for his team per match, while Milner came in at just under three. The efficiency with which those chances turn into goals is what really stands out, however.

Last season, O’Riley scored 18 goals and set up 13 more for his team-mates, while Milner managed two assists and no goals at all – indeed, the former England midfielder hasn’t scored in the Premier League since the 2019/20 season. Of course, there are caveats to any statistical comparison given that O’Riley has played many more games in the past season or two, and at a slightly lower level, but he is such a fine finisher and the quality of his final pass is so high that he should be leaps and bounds ahead of Milner in terms of sheer productivity.

Stats only tell half the story, of course, but the eye test is passed just as comfortably. From a gloriously first-time volley over the shoulder against Hearts to a chipped pass on the turn against Dundee which took out two lines of defenders at once to set a striker through, many of those goals and assists show off deft technique and remarkable precision. Plenty of players have struggled to bridge the gap between Scottish Premiership and the English top flight, but it would be a surprise if O’Riley was one of them. He has the touch to be just as dangerous in the Premier League.

His quality shines through in defence, too. A hugely energetic player with no shortage of stamina, he presses high and hard when required but also tracks back as a matter of routine, picking up more than six turnovers a game in Scotland last season. He’s rock solid in one-on-one situations, too, tackling his opponents about three times as often as one manages to get past him. Milner, to extend the comparison, managed 3.4 turnovers per game, although in fairness he is every bit as effective in ground duels.

None of this is intended to diminish Milner’s ability or contribution to the team, but while he reads the game extremely well it’s not unreasonable to suggest that he isn’t as fast as he once was, doesn’t get back to cover defensive areas quite as easily when Brighton are caught on the counter-attack and certainly doesn’t have the same ability to score and create goals in volume.

The point about O’Riley being better equipped to handle the counter-attack could be key. Under Roberto de Zerbi last season, Brighton conceded too many goals on the counter or because they were caught in possession in dangerous areas, and although O’Riley isn’t necessarily exceptionally quick, he has the sense of space and willingness to run required to get back into the right positions and handle problems when they arise. If Brighton’s more suicidal tendencies do come to light later in the season, then O’Riley will certainly help to blunt their impact.

O’Riley does have at least one relative weakness. He isn’t a first-rate ball-carrier and doesn’t tend to burst past defenders on the dribble. He breaks lines with passes rather than with the ball at his feet, which can limit his ability to exploit space when passing options aren’t readily available. But that’s the only noticeable deficiency in a very well-rounded skill set.

It's possible, of course, that he struggles to adapt to the tempo of the Premier League or that the reduced time and space available to players in the English top flight proves tricky to adapt to – but he ticks all the boxes for a player coming up from a lower level in terms of his touch and technique and his reading of the game in front of him.

O’Riley should prove to be an exceptional signing for Brighton, a player who considerably increases their ability to generate goals going forward, who can unlock defences and offer improved cover when the ball comes back the other way. He won’t transform the way they play and there is no need to build around him, but he should improve the team up and down the pitch. On paper, at least, Brighton seem to have dug up another gem in the transfer market.