Brendan Rodgers praised the attitude of Matt O’Riley after Brighton formally announced his signing, with the fee believed to be in excess of £25m.
The Danish internationalist has signed a five-year contract until June 2029.
Signed by Ange Postecoglou for just £1.5m from MK Dons in 2022, the 23-year-old scored 27 goals across 125 appearances for Celtic and won three titles with the Parkhead side.
Rodgers, who worked with O’Riley for the last 12 months, has praised the manner in which the midfielder retained his professionalism amidst the January and summer windows in which he was continually linked with a move away from the club.
“It’s been a real pleasure to work with him,” said Brendan Rodgers. “As a coach who has coached many players, he did everything he could to become the best player he could be.
“His behaviour, decency all the way through pre-season was absolutely a joy to see. From a young player who has got the riches of the premier league within sight he never lost his focus for Celtic right up until the very last day.
“We had a lighter session on bis last day but he stayed out to do that extra little bit with the coaches. When you work with a player like that you want them to succeed so brilliant servant for Celtic.
“Celtic won’t be the end game for some of these players but it will give them so much and he leaves here now a winner, a better footballer and ready to play for any team in the world.
“When you play for Celtic and the pressure and you become a winner you can go on and play for most teams in the world.”
The fee is believes to be a Scottish transfer record and eclipses the previous record paid to Celtic by Al-Ittihad for Jota last summer.
Celtic’s challenge now is to replace O’Riley with similar quality as they head into the final days of the window.
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