Ten years ago and Real Madrid want to sign Brighton goalkeeper was a headline only seen in an MDMA-induced dream. The Albion though have come so far in the past decade that Real Madrid now do actually want to sign Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, apparently.
The Spanish giants view Verbruggen as the perfect replacement for Thibaut Courtois, whose contract at the Santiago Bernabeu expires in the summer of 2026.
Courtois will be 34 by then and Real are not expected to extend his deal, feeling age is not on his side. According to football website Fichajes, Real have identified Verbruggen as the goalkeeper they want to take over from Courtois.
Verbruggen joined Brighton last summer for £17 million from Anderlecht. The Dutchman arrived with world class potential based on his numbers in the Belgian League.
He had a save percentage of 76.6 percent in the 2022-23 season, the second-highest in Europe’s top five leagues after David Raya at Brentford.
Verbruggen was credited with 6.7 goals prevented based on xG and he dealt successfully with a higher percentage of crosses into his box than any other goalkeeper.
What made these numbers more remarkable was Verbruggen’s age. Only 20 at the time, he was already delivering performances often better than goalkeepers like Alisson Becker, Emiliano Martinez, Bernd Leno and Jordan Pickford.
Not that Vebruggen had an easy start to life at Brighton. He made some high profile mistakes attempting to play out from the back during his first six months at the Amex, including when gifting Crystal Palace their goal in the 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.
Neither Verbruggen nor Jason Steele were helped by Roberto De Zerbi’s goalkeeper rotation policy. Both found it hard to find form when frequently in and out of the starting XI. Their save percentage numbers in 2023-24 compared with 2022-23 reflected that.
Verbruggen though never lost confidence and his improvement from around Christmas time onwards was incredible. He was much more assured with the ball at his feet and made points-earning saves.
With Verbruggen still so young in goalkeeper terms and many years from his peak, the ability level he could reach if he continues the rate of improvement seen last season is frightening.
That ultimately is why Madrid are interested in Bart Verbruggen. He has the potential to be their number one for a decade if he is the man who replaces Courtois.
Thanks to his form in the second half of 2023-24, Verbruggen was chosen by Ronald Koeman as Netherlands first choice goalkeeper going into Euro 2024. It made him the youngest number one in Dutch national team history.
Verbruggen helped the Netherlands to the semi finals of the tournament. He kept a clean sheet against favourites France and could do nothing about Ollie Watkins’ last-gasp winner for England in Dortmund.
When a Madid bid for Verbruggen will come is less clear. Real could wait until Courtois is out of contract, which would mean Verbruggen potentially staying at Brighton for this season and next.
Or Madrid may move to sign him in the summer of 2025. Verbruggen would then have a season battling with Courtouis and adapting to life at the biggest club in the world before succeeding the Belgian as first choice.
If Real do come in for Verbruggen, Brighton will expect to make a huge profit on that modest £17 million fee they paid for him.
The Albion also have a clear succession plan with Carl Rushworth and James Beadle waiting in the wings. Beadle’s been about training with the full England squad during the current international break in a sign of how highly rated he is.
Even if Real end up not going for Verbruggen, he still seems certain to end up at a bigger club than Brighton in the not-too-distant future.
It is all a far cry from the days of Mark Walton, Andy Pettersen and rattling through 30 different goalkeepers in 12 years at Withdean Stadium – largely because the majority of them were shit.
