'There's a way back for Matt O'Riley' – Celtic hero shown route out of nightmare (2025)

O'Riley has struggled with form and injuries since his big move to the Premier Leeague

Brighton would be wrong to write off Matt O'Riley at this stage – because his previous at Celtic shows he CAN cut it in the Premier League.

That's according to former Seagulls boss Gus Poyet who sees a 'way back' for the unlucky £30m man.

O'Riley got his big move south from Celtic last summer but has been wracked with injuries that have halted any sort of momentum.

He was forced off in tears just nine minutes into his debut against Crawley Town back in September with an ankle problem that kept him on the sidelines for more than two months.

O'Riley then struggled to get back into the team after his comeback, before a fresh knee problem struck earlier this month that has kept him out of recent league games with Bournemouth in Manchester City.

As a result, he's managed just five starts since his move, and there's already talk he could be moved on in the summer in a big to get playing regularly.

Bringing club heroes back home seems to be the theme of 2025 at Celtic. They re-signed Jota in January, Kieran Tierney is on his way back from Arsenal in the summer, and a £3m move to take Kyogo back to Parkhead just a few months on from his £10m exit has been mooted.

Could a similar switch for O'Riley be on the cards? There's no reason why not, but former Brighton boss Poyet isn't ready to write him off yet.

He told Tipsbladet: “I think there’s a way back for Matt O’Riley because when you play and perform for a club like Celtic there’s always a chance for him to come back.

“The Premier League is a bigger change than people think. Especially moving from the Scottish Premiership with all respect to the league.

"There’s a quantity of games if you’re a good player. There’s no rest in the Premier League and he had his injury at the start of the season.

"There’s still time. He needs to understand what Fabian wants from his midfielders which is different to what you can and want to do on your own. It’s a different kind of football.”

“He needs to understand his position, his role, the angles of receiving the ball, when and how, the touches. There’s so many things that you have to get it or you don’t. The next three to six months will be important.”

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