Brighton & Hove Albion’s Matt O’Riley has revealed that Atalanta came close to signing him before he agreed to join the Premier League side.
The Denmark international has been speaking to Viaplay in his home country and Camp.dk have relayed his comments.
Brighton took the 24-year-old from Celtic towards the end of the summer window and handed him a deal until 2029.
The midfielder had starred for Brendan Rodgers’ side, scoring 19 goals and registering 18 assists from 49 games in all competitions last season.
The Europa League winners were unsuccessful in their efforts to take him away from the Scottish champions and lost out to Brighton. O’Riley has now revealed a chat with Fabian Hürzeler was one of the main reasons he picked the Seagulls over La Dea.
“It was actually closest with Atalanta and Brighton in the end. There was a moment when I thought that Brighton would be best for me. I spoke to our coach Fabian, and I got a good feeling from him,” he said.
“Brighton have a good culture. For me, it’s important to be somewhere where I can come in and have fun. I want to enjoy my football and just play freely. It helps to be in a place where you can talk to people.”
O’Riley would have played in the Champions League this season had he picked Atalanta over the English club.
He suffered an injury on his Brighton debut in August and spent 73 days on the sidelines. On his return in November, the Dane scored the winner against Manchester City and has been a regular for Brighton since then.
