Sold for £20m: Celtic struck gold selling ace who’s now worth millions less

With Matt O’Riley’s recent summer transfer from Parkhead, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers lost one of his best players.

The Denmark international was reportedly signed by Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion for a Scottish transfer record-breaking sum of more than £25 million.

O’Riley’s 18 goals and 13 assists in the Scottish Premiership during the 2023–2024 season drew interest from other teams, ultimately resulting in his departure from the team.

Rodgers is no stranger to losing some top talents at Parkhead and one player he struck gold with during his first spell at the club was Moussa Dembele.

How much Celtic sold Moussa Dembele for

In the summer of 2018, French side Lyon swooped in to sign the centre-forward from the Hoops for a reported fee of £20m, after he had joined from Fulham for an undisclosed compensation fee in 2016.

Dembele had an incredible first season as a member of the Glasgow team, kicking off his career. In 49 games, he amassed an impressive 32 goals and nine assists for Rodgers.

Despite this, he did see some decline in his play during his second season at Paradise, finishing with 17 goals and 9 assists in 39 games across all competitions.

The French marksman then scored three goals in six games at the start of the 2018/19 season before Lyon won his services for a whopping £20m sum.

The 28-year-old striker’s market value is now millions less than the sum the Scottish giants paid to recruit him, so that Celtic transaction has turned out to be a real eye-opener.