Matt O'Riley has almost certainly played his last game for Celtic as Brighton close in on a record-breaking move. The English Premier League outfit hope to seal a deal worth more than £25m over the course of the next 72 hours and O’Riley could make his debut on Saturday lunchtime v Manchester United.
Celtic will bank a jackpot fee that will eclipse the mega bucks Arsenal paid for Kieran Tierney in 2019 and the huge windfall received for winger Jota last summer from Al-Ittihad.
O’Riley was the subject of five bids from Atalanta - the highest reaching £23.5m after add-ons - but the Europa League winners eventually admitted defeat in their pursuit with the Scottish Premiership champions sticking to their asking price.
Celtic have inserted a hefty sell-on clause in the deal for the 23-year-old as part of the negotiations and will now step up their attempts to replace him.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk