Marseille have agreed a deal to sign Matt O’Riley, as first reported by Fabrice Hawkins.
It looked as though the Dane had established himself in Fabian Hürzeler’s plans for the season; however, Roberto De Zerbi’s side has made a late move to secure him as a replacement for Adrien Rabiot.
Having started the first two games of the season despite heavy rumours linking him to Italian sides Roma and Juventus, his move to Marseille is a bit of a bolt from the blue.
A Rollercoaster comes to a Halt
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O’Riley signed from Celtic last summer for £25m after a drawn-out saga, and was swiftly brought into the starting eleven to take on Crawley in the Carabao Cup just a day later.
Just nine minutes into his debut, however, a crunching tackle forced him off with an ankle injury, which was the first proper injury he had suffered in his career, ruling him out for the next eleven games.
This misfortune would set the tone for his first season at Brighton, largely warming the bench and struggling to break into the system.
On his return from injury, he wrote his name into Brighton history with a comeback winner against Manchester City, just the second win for Brighton against Pep Guardiola’s team in the Premier League (with the third coming just yesterday).
He was then given consecutive starts against Southampton and Fulham, but was played out of position and was unfortunate to score an own goal for his academy side.
He would continue to be a rotation option, but often came on in the ten or in the double pivot, which didn’t suit him.
Hürzeler wanted more positional discipline from him, but O’Riley is an eight that enjoys having a free role. Still at Brighton, he is yet to play in that role.
O’Riley ended the season by scoring a late penalty against Tottenham, but that goal hasn’t gone down favourably as it was an opportunity for local lad Jack Hinshelwood to complete a headline hat trick.
After some good performances in pre-season, he was rewarded with starts against Fulham and Everton, the former scoring Brighton’s only goal from the spot.
What more is in store for MOR?
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It remains to be seen how O’Riley’s Brighton career will pan out, but he hasn’t quite made the transition to Premier League football despite the quality he possesses.
It’s a shame, because personally I thought he could have a big role to play this season. He’s a charismatic player who leads by example, who works hard and has a strong technical floor.
It felt a bit unfair, though, for him to be playing in the ten role when it clearly didn’t suit him (especially without a traditional nine), when there are tens waiting in the wings to play, such as yesterday’s hero Brajan Gruda.
For all parties, it’s a deal that makes sense, giving him the option to return if he has a good spell, and slimming the squad down further, given how bloated it looked at stages of the window.
Hopefull,y we will see you soon, Mr. O’Riley. History shows De Zerbi can make a serious player out of Brighton midfielders.
