The summer transfer window is heating up for the Albion. Signing number two is through the door with Brighton forking out a cool £25 million for Feyenoord midfielder Mats Wieffer.
Liverpool made a late attempt to hijack the deal with new Reds boss Arne Slot eager to link up again with one of his most trusted players from his time at De Kuip.
But unlike the attempted signing of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rudely interrupted by Chelsea, the Seagulls have got Wieffer over the line.
That he was wanted by Liverpool – even if it was driven by the Slot connection – is telling of what a talent Wieffer is.
So too the bafflement in the Netherlands over the fee. Feyenoord were initially said to want £30 million for Wieffer, a figure described in Dutch media as ‘paltry’.
Goodness knows what they will make of Brighton actually snaring Wieffer for £25 million plus add-ons. Depending on what those add-ons are and how much they are worth, they could make Wieffer the most expensive signing in Albion history.
Wieffer came through the ranks at FC Twente, the club managed by Schteve McClaren when he gave us that magnificent interview in a Dutch accent. He played twice for FC Twente before joining Excelsior on a free transfer in the summer of 2020.
77 appearances, six goals and 15 assists followed over the next two seasons, culminating in Excelsior winning promotion to the Eredivisie.
Feyenoord were suitably impressed, signing Wiefer from their cross-city rivals for just £500,000 in 2022. Wieffer instantly established himself in Slot’s Feyenoord side. Although mainly used as a holding midfielder, he was also deployed on occasions as a centre back.
This is where things get interesting from a Brighton point-of-view. One of the pillars of the way St Pauli played under Fabian Hurzeler was a central defender moving out of the back three to become an additional midfielder.
Such a hybrid position is rarely seen in English football. Wieffer looks like an ideal candidate to fill it should Hurzeler deploy the same formation and tactics which worked so well with St Pauli at Brighton.
Wieffer is mobile and comfortable carrying the ball forward; key attributes for the role. He is also an excellent reader of the game, meaning he was rarely caught out of position.
He had a knack at Feyenoord of always being in the right place at the right time to halt opposition attacks and regain possession.
In Wieffer’s first season at De Kuip, Feyenoord won the Dutch title. Within eight months of his arrival, he had been called up the national side.
Wieffer has since won nine caps, scoring one goal. He would have been a shoe-in for the Dutch Euro 2024 squad had injury not got in the way.
Feyenoord won the KNVB Cup in 2023-24 and although Wieffer missed the final, he played a huge role in the previous four rounds of the competition where the likes of PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar were eliminated.
Wieffer leaves Feyenoord having played 79 games, scoring nine goals and assisting a further 11. A fair few of those goals just happen to be spectacular strikes from distance, thanks to the high amount of power he generates through lengthy legs which are like a giraffe.
A 6’2 frame is not the only noticeable thing about Wieffer’s appearance. He also has a curly head of hair, suggesting somebody ate their sandwich crusts when they were a child growing up in Borne.
At 24-years-old, Wieffer comes with potential resale value should the rate of improvement he has shown in his career so far continue.
At the same time, this is not a signing for the future. Wieffer will be expected to make an instant impact in an area of the pitch Brighton have been lacking since Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo were sold.
There is though one elephant in the room. Signing players from the Dutch league. Brighton have a terrible record at it.
The likes of DJ Jurgen Locadia and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were big-money horror shows. Elvis Manu cost £1.5 million when £1.5 million was a lot. Danny Holla tried hard, bless him. And whatever became of Roland Bergkamp?
And it is not just the Albion with a back catalogue of questionable acquisitions straight from the Netherlands. Anthony. Davinson Sanchez. Hakim Ziyech. Memphis Depay. Steven Bergwijn. Davy Klaassen. Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Vincent Janssen. The list goes on.
Signings from the Eredivisie are fraught with risk. Brighton will be hoping Wieffer turns out more Davy Propper or Joel Veltman than Locadia or Jahanbakhsh.
