Surprised? Brighton Outspends Many Giants to Become the Second-Highest Spending Team in Europe This Summer

It is reported that Brighton has signed midfielder Matt O’Riley from Scottish Premiership side Celtic for a total transfer fee of 30 million pounds. This transfer not only set a new record for the highest transfer fee in Scottish football history but also made Brighton the second-highest spending team in the 2024 summer transfer window, just behind Chelsea.

The summer transfer market has been exceptionally busy for Premier League clubs. Besides the traditional top six teams, some mid-table teams have also shown great vitality in the market.

As the summer transfer window is about to close, a Premier League club has once again set a new transfer record.

It is reported that to bring in O’Riley, Brighton agreed to pay a base fee of 26 million pounds, which could rise to 30 million pounds based on add-ons. The Danish player signed a five-year contract with Brighton, including an option for an additional year.

This transfer fee set a new record for the highest fee received by a Scottish club for selling a player. The previous record was also held by Celtic when they sold Jota to Al-Ittihad Jeddah for approximately 25 million pounds.

Before Brighton signed O’Riley, Celtic had rejected five offers from Atalanta, with the last offer being 21.5 million pounds plus add-ons.

The 23-year-old O’Riley scored 19 goals and provided 18 assists for Celtic last season. His original contract was due to expire in 2027. O’Riley had stated that he would consider a transfer as long as he felt it suited him, rather than being solely dependent on the transfer fee amount.

O’Riley is the sixth player signed by Brighton this summer. Other notable signings include Yankuba Mint (30 million pounds, Newcastle), Giorginho Root (40 million pounds, Leeds United), Wilfere (32 million pounds, Feyenoord), Gruda (31.5 million pounds, Mainz).

To date, Brighton’s total spending in the summer transfer window has exceeded 170 million pounds (approximately 201 million euros), second only to Chelsea (the highest-spending club this summer, with total spending reaching 241 million euros).