It has been a summer of significant change for Brighton and their squad ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Unusually, the Albion have spent more on new arrivals than they have received from departures. With more signings expected between now and the end of August, it remains possible that Brighton will pay out more than £100 million in a single transfer window for the first time.
Goalkeepers
The expectation once Bart Verbruggen is fit to play is he fills the number one role this season with Jason Steele as number two.
Carl Rushworth is expected to follow Kjell Scherpen, James Beadle and Tom McGill out on loan. Presuming there is no recall option in any of those deals, Killian Cahill acts as third choice.
Right backs
After playing 45 minutes in Japan, Tariq Lamptey has been absent with no word on an injury or other reason. Joel Veltman started in the 4-0 win against Villarreal before behind replaced by Jack Hinshelwood.
Lamptey and Hinshelwood look more suited to the attacking demands Hurzeler places on his full backs than Veltman.
Whilst several other players could potentially excel at right wing back in a 3-4-3 formation – such as Amario Cozier-Duberry, Solly March and Carlos Baleba – this looks an area the club need to strengthen. Hence the persistent links to Ferdi Kadıoglu.
Left backs
Valentin Barco and Pervis Estupinan both look perfectly capable of fulfilling an attacking left back role in Hurzeler’s system. So too March once fit again after injury.
Hurzeler has also expressed confidence in Baleba as a left wing back option, saying: “Against the ball he is very athletic. He has good speed; he is good one-against-one and with the ball. He can play very good vertical passes and he can create a dynamic from further back, because of his dynamic runs.”
The position therefore looks well covered. In the event of an injury crisis similar to last season’s ruling out all four options at the same time, Kadioglu could cover there if signed thanks to hi skill set as the ultimate utility player.
Centre backs
Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul Van Hecke look destined to start the season as the first choice pairing, with Adam Webster as back up.
Igor Julio and Veltman may be more suited to central defensive roles given the attacking demands Hurzeler makes of his full backs, particularly if he opts for the same 3-4-3 formation he used at St Pauli.
Hurzeler’s build-up approach with the Bundesliga 2 side involved shifting from three centres back to two. In the middle of the trio, he used a defensive midfielder in Eric Smith.
In possession, Smith would step out of defence and into midfield. Both Baleba and Estupinan have the skillset to suit such a role.
The audacious offer to free-agent Mats Hummels suggest the Albion are looking for an additional central defender.
Hurzeler commented on discussions with Hummels, whose family he knows well from his time at Bayern Munich: “The basis for cooperation was always there when I had dealings with the Hummels.”
“We value each other very much, had good discussions, but at the end of the day the player has to decide for himself whether he can identify 100 percent with the club.”
“I can say that the conditions are right – otherwise we would not have pursued the personnel matter. The discussions were very positive, both on a professional and private level.”
Whilst signing Hummels remains an outside shot, Brighton apparently have an interest in 26-year-old PSV Eindhoven defender Olivier Boscagli.
Entering the final year of his contract, Boscagli is available at a reduced price. In terms of outgoing transfers, AC Milan retain an interest in taking Igor back to Italy.
Midfielders
Midfield has been an area of huge change. Pascal Gross has signed for Borussia Dortmund and the expectation remains that Billy Gilmour will join Napoli. The £12 million offered by the Serie A side remains some way short of the Albion’s valuation.
Hurzeler spoke about Gilmour after the 4-0 friendly win over Villarreal, saying: “It is the case that he is back from his summer holiday, but we have to adapt him to the intensity and training.”
“We will put a bit more attention on the player, with some pieces of training. On Tuesday (August 13) he will back. I have had talks with him. I said to him how I see him and what my plans are with him this season. The rest we will see.”
New signing Mats Wieffer looks set to fill one of the two central midfield positions against Everton. The Villarreal game suggested James Milner may be edging Baleba for the second starting role.
Brighton have also added £25 million Mainz midfielder Brajan Gruda, with the 20-year-old described as a dream target for Hurzeler.
Gruda has spent his career so far split between an attacking midfield role and playing on the right wing. With the Albion having stockpiled so many wingers this summer, Gruda may find himself fulfilling a more central position at the Amex.
Presuming this to be the case, Brighton interest in Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley is now reportedly over.
18-year-old Malick Yalcouye signed from IFK Gothenburg for £6 million has made a big impression in pre-season, leading to conflicting statements as to whether he might stay at the club or leave on loan.
The latter appears to have gained more traction in recent days with Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town all mentioned as possible destinations.
Roberto De Zerbi consistently stated that he saw Hinshelwood as a midfield player rather than a defender. Yasin Ayari and Jensen Weir have both been used as substitutes in pre-season, with Ayari particularly impressive.
Neither Mahmoud Dahoud nor Jakub Moder were taken to Japan and every indication is that Brighton would like to sell.
Moder almost left the club earler in the summer as part of the deal which would have brought Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester to the Amex before it was hijacked by Chelsea.
With the departures of Kacper Kozlowski to Gaziantep and Marc Leonard to Birmingham, central midfield remains an area Brighton look to be in the market for additional signings.
At the end of July, numerous reports indicated Brighton had agreed a fee of around £13 million for the 21-year-old Paraguay midfielder Diego Gomez from Inter Miami.
The Argus have reported that if a deal is done for Gomez, he is expected to stay in Miami until the end of the MLS season and will subsequently arrive in January.
Wingers
After a spell last season when De Zerbi had to cope with no available wingers, Brighton now appear to have more than Hurzeler is likely to need.
Hence new signing Ibrahim Osman has been loaned straight out to Feyenoord and Facundo Buonanotte joins Leicester City. Neither dal contains an option to buy.
Kaoru Mitoma seems set to start the season on the left with Yankubu Minteh on the right. That leaves very strong options from the bench of Cozier-Duberry, Simon Adingra and Jeremy Sarmiento.
Andy Naylor has reported in The Athletic that Sarmiento wants to stay at the Amex this season and fight for a first team place rather than go back out on loan.
Hurzeler talked about the role of substitutes after the Villarreal game: “It is very important that we know we always have options from the bench.”
“When the game is even, players like Simon, like Amario, like Jeremy, can make a difference and that is very important for me as a coach to know. It can change the dynamic of the game.”
Hurzeler spoke about the return of Solly March at the recent Brighton Fans’ Forum, saying: “I can’t give a clear announcement when Solly March will be back.”
With so much talent in wide areas, Abdallah Sima seems likely to leave. Rangers are keen to take him back to Scotland but having failed to qualify for the Champions League, may struggle to meet the Albion’s asking price.
Given the number of wingers, it would not be a surprise to see at least one other join Sima in being sold. Adingra and Sarmiento have been linked with Arsenal and Galatasary respectively.
Selling two back up players to huge European clubs is indicative of where Brighton now stand in the football world.
The Albion are equally well stacked for development squad wingers. 18-year-old Adrian Mazilu has arrived from Romania.
Mazilu, Andy Moran and Cam Peupion will all be hoping to follow Benicio Baker-Boaitey in securing loan moves for the season.
Number 10s
Joao Pedro seems certain to start the season in the number 10 role. Hurzeler has discussed the situation surrounding Julio Enciso, who picked up a minor muscle injury on Olympics duty with Paraguay.
“We have to give him time. He had Copa America and then the Olympics so a lot of games through the summer. I don’t think it will take too long.”
Centre forwards
Danny Welbeck will be first choice centre forward having scored three times in pre-season. Hurzeler has few other options, with Evan Ferguson still ruled out with an ankle problem and the long-drawn out departure of Deniz Undav finally resolved with a permanent move to Stuttgart.
It remains to be seen whether Brighton opt to buy a new striker or Hurzeler is happy to go with Pedro covering the position until Ferguson is available.
From the development squad, Mark O’Mahony provides the most direct replacement for Ferguson but would probably be better served by a loan spell. Sheffield Wednesday is seen as a possible destination.
Peter Finn
