With the departure of coach Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton’s management decided to start fresh and entrusted the new project to the talented 31-year-old German coach, Fabian Hürzeler. They then proceeded to put immense pressure (or great support) on the young coach, who led St. Pauli from the 2. Bundesliga to the top flight last season, by spending over 200 million euros on new signings The Premier League club will surpass that threshold as soon as Fenerbahce‘s Ferdi Kadıoğlu officially signs a five-year contract with an option for an additional year. And they are not stopping there as they just made another deal – they are shopping Celtic‘s Matt O’Riley for 30 million!Brighton have completed the deal for Matt O’Riley from Celtic 🍀Chelsea were rumored to be interested in him at some point, but you can bet we’ll be buying him from Brighton in the future What a player pic.twitter.com/MSFnNmIdjE— Peter Not Drury (@PeterNotDrury) August 23, 2024 The financial power of Premier League clubs compared to the rest of Europe is evident in Brighton’s spending this summer. Last year, they set a club record by spending nearly 100 million, but this year, they are doubling that amount, surpassing Aston Villa and Atlético Madrid to become the second-highest spenders this summer, just behind Chelsea. Just ten days ago, the club from the south of England was under 100 million in spending, but recent purchases of Bryan Gruda (Mainz, €31.5 million), Georginio Rutter (Leeds, €46.7 million), along with Kadıoğlu and O‘Riley have changed that. Moreover, the Seagulls haven’t made significant sales in the current transfer market. They earned 26.7 million from Dennis Undav’s move to Stuttgart and just 7 million from Pascal Groß’s transfer to Borussia Dortmund. Celtic is set to break their record for player sales for the second consecutive year with O’Riley. The previous record was set last year when they sold Jota to Al Ittihad for 21.9 million.Fourth African coming to Manchester UnitedSky Sports reports that Celtic had previously rejected five offers from Atalanta for the excellent midfielder before Brighton came in and secured the deal. The highest offer from the Bergamo club was 25 million plus bonuses, but that wasn’t enough for the club from Celtic Park. Earlier in January, Atlético Madrid’s offer of around 23.5 million was also turned down. O’Riley has had a fantastic season with 19 goals and 18 assists. The Danish midfielder had a contract with Celtic until the summer of 2027, but it was clear that the Scottish giants wouldn’t be able to keep him this summer after such impressive numbers. The talented central midfielder was born in London and developed in Fulham’s academy. However, he got his first real senior minutes only after moving to MK Dons as a free agent. Celtic signed him two years ago for a transfer fee of €1.8 million, making an excellent market move.Conte buying at Old Trafford?Since the deals have just been agreed and both players are yet to arrive in Brighton for a medical and contract signing, the Seagulls will host Manchester United today without them. Erik ten Hag is looking for his second win of the season and his second in a row against Brighton. United defeated Seagulls away in the last game of the 2023/24 season 2-0. Victor Lindelof is unavailable due to a toe injury, while Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia remain sidelined with their respective issues, but the match winning scorer Joshua Zirkzee could start the game this time, and maybe even the Bayern signing De Ligt.PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHDAY 2Saturday14:30: (2.60) Brighton (3.40) Man.Utd. (2.70)17:00: (1.85) Fulham (3.50) Leicester (4.40)17:00: (1.48) Tottenham (4.40) Everton (6.75)17:00: (2.25) Crystal Palace (3.50) West Ham (3.35)17:00: (1.10) Man.City (13.0) Ipswich (25.0)17:00: (2.55) Southampton (3.30) Nott.Forest (2.80)19:30: (4.60) Aston Villa (3.60) Arsenal (1.80)Sunday 16:00: (4.70) Wolverhampton (3.70) Chelsea (1.85)16:00: (3.20) Bournemouth (3.60) Newcastle (2.30)18:30: (1.25) Liverpool (6.50) Brentford (10.0)***odds are subject to change***
