'Horror' – Brighton chairman Tony Bloom breaks silence on Matt O'Riley injury and issues surgery update

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom hopes to have £25m summer signing Matt O’Riley back later this season after successful ankle surgery.

O’Riley, 23, joined from Celtic this summer but his debut against Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup win last week turned in to a nightmare as he was forced off after just six minutes with ankle ligament damage after a poor challenge from Crawley captain Jay Williams.

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey later apologised for the tackle that at the time went unpunished by the referee. O’Riley underwent surgery on Monday but the Denmark international faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

It’s a huge blow for the player and the club as O’Riley was set to be a key figure for Fabian Hurzeler this term – especially after the club sanctioned the summer sales of midfield duo Pascal Gross and Billy Gilmour.

Bloom, speaking to the Albion podcast on the club’s website, said: “We are hugely disappointed with that horror challenge on Matt O’Riley. He had his operation today (Monday) and that has been successful.

"We are all really looking forward to seeing him back at the later part of the year. It's really important to bring the right players with the right personality. From what I have seen and from what I have heard, everyone is fitting in well.”

Brighton spent more than £200m in the summer transfer window but Bloom warned that will not become the norm for the club going forward.

"We have done a lot of business this transfer window,” said the chairman. “I'm not expecting that much in the next two or three windows, even if one or tow of our keys players go. Because we have such strength coming through.”