The continued phenomenal form this season of Viktor Gyokeres makes the Swedish forward a rare example of “one who got away” from Brighton during the Tony Bloom years.
Gyokeres has 33 goals in 25 games for club and country so far in 2024-25. A player who the Albion sold to Coventry City for £1 million is now likely to return to the Premier League from Sporting for possibly 85 times that amount.
Recent comparable examples to Gyokeres of individuals who left Brighton underrated only to go onto prove the Albion wrong in their future careers are few and far between.
Yes, there was pain watching Glenn Murray score 44 goals for Crystal Palace. But Murray more more than made up for that with 49 goals on his return to Brighton.
If anything, Palace regret letting Murray go more than the Albion did – as Eagles owner Steve Parish admitted when saying that selling the striker to Bournemouth was a “huge mistake”.
An excess of quality central defenders in the early seasons at the Amex meant Steve Cook and Tommy Elphick became key components as Plucky Little Bournemouth rose from League One to the Premier League.
Connor Goldson also went to Rangers and became a Scottish champion, although there can be little doubt that Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy were better players.
The remarkable current squad depth Fabian Hurzeler enjoys mean Brighton are open to loaning out Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso is having to find minutes in the Under 21s.
There is now an inevitability that players who go onto become future stars like Gyokeres will have to leave Brighton in search of first team football to kick start their careers.
Brighton strength in depth in forward positions
Ferguson and Enciso have found their minutes limited this season because of the sheer number of quality forwards, number 10s and wingers Brighton possess.
You could even argue the Albion have the greatest depth in this position of any Premier League club. Greater even than Manchester City, whose fans must have mixed feelings watching the success of Cole Palmer and Liam Delap after they both left for regular football.
After the 2-1 win over Bournemouth, Match of the Day talked over the success of the attacking quartet of Danny Welbeck, Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma.
They also mentioned Yankubu Minteh and Ferguson. This though only just just touches the surface of the phenomenal depth of forward talent at the Amex.
There are currently 10 players in the first team squad capable of playing across the front line. Welbeck, Pedro, Rutter, Mitoma, Ferguson, Minteh, Simon Adingra, Solly March, Brajan Gruda and Enciso.
Another seven attacking talents are out on loan. Facundo Buanonotte, Ibrahim Osman, Jeremy Sarmiento, Abdallah Sima, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Mark O’Mahony and Benicio Baker-Boaitey.
And there are seven more in the Premier League 2 squad. Josh Duffus, Cam Peupion, Louis Flower, Adrian Mazilu, Caylan Vickers, Romario Moulton and Marcus Ifill.
It adds up to 24 players with aspirations of filling a maximum of five spots in the first team, presuming Brighton stick to something like a 4-2-3-1 formation in future.
You could even add Ferdi Kadioglu, Tariq Lamptey and Valentin Barco to that number as attack-minded wing backs capable of playing as wingers. Matt O’Riley, Yasin Ayari and Andy Moran have also shown they can fulfil an attacking midfield role.
Current Brighton Under 21s who could be the next Gyokeres
There is serious potential in a number of Brighton Under 21s players. Jack Wilshere compared Cozier-Duberry to Bukayo Saka. With Cozier-Duberry’s pre-season performances for the Albion, that claim did not look too outrageous.
Roberto De Zerbi and WAB have both hailed O’Mahony as the next Ferguson. De Zerbi said last season:“I think he can be the new Evan Ferguson because he seems a lot like Evan.”
“Maybe Evan has a different shot but Mark is better in terms of possession, he understands the play better. We will see, I want to give them the chance to play for sure”.
The concerning Josh Duffus situation
Having watched PL2 this season, there is a valid argument for another WAB article on Is Josh Duffus the next Joao Pedro?
Pacey, strong, technically gifted with an eye for goal, Duffus has already scored 10 times across all competitions this season. He is the star of an Albion team that is behind only Manchester City in PL2.
There is now some concern over whether Brighton can keep hold of Duffus. He has been linked with a move to Marseille, having been handed his senior debut by De Zerbi last season away against AEK Athens in the Europa League.
Duffus has not come close to featuring under Hurzeler. Which is totally understandable when you look at the attacking players ahead of him in the pecking order.
If Duffus thinks first team football will be easier to find elsewhere, he may not extend a contract which comes to an end this summer. The same reasoning led Cozier-Duberry to swap Arsenal for the Amex in the summer.
It would be a blow to lose a player who is genuinely “one of our own” after joining the Albion academy aged 12. Duffus at 19-years-old looks at least as good as Gyokeres and March did for Brighton at the same age.
The downside of stockpiling talent
The majority of those 24 players listed above will have to leave the Albion for first team football. Such is the talent and potential amongst the ranks at Brighton, there could even be more than one Gyokeres in their number.
In many ways, this sort of strength in depth is a delight for fans. There is though a complex debate over whether Brighton are ‘stockpiling’ talent in several positions, which can in turn stifle the careers and development of those who find themselves down the pecking order and on the sidelines.
Did it really make sense to buy all of Rutter, Minteh, Gruda, Cozier-Duberry and Osman in the same summer transfer window? Especially when it could lead to a forward valued at £100 million not so long ago in Ferguson wanting to move elsewhere for first team football?
Bloom hints at quieter transfer windows ahead
On the flip side, a large part of the Albion’s phenomenal success if this conveyor belt of talent. Yves Bissouma moves on and Moises Caicedo comes in. Caicedo is sold for a British record transfer fee and Carlos Baleba arrives on the scene.
Bloom acknowledged after paying out almost £200 in summer 2024 transfer that recruitment will be quieter over the next few windows because of the depth and quality built up by that spending spree.
“If we lose some key players in future windows, we will hopefully have players coming through,” Bloom told The Argus.
“The younger players within the squad at the moment, players that we’ve invested in the last couple of years or academy players.”
“Some of them have gone out on loan and we hope will come back in the next one or two seasons to really be a big chance of making our first team. So there’s a bit of future-proofing in there.”
In truth though, when Jamestown Analytics identify the next possible Mitoma, will Brighton really sit back and not take advantage of the situation? Instead trusting the likes of Cozier-Duberry. Duffus or O’Mahony?
An equivalent issue remains in the goalkeeping department. It was perhaps surprising that Carl Rushworth, James Beadle and Kjell Scherpen all extended their contracts recently.
Even if Bart Verbruggen secures a big money move next summer, two of those three will need to leave Brighton for first team football.
And one could easily go onto become a goalkeeping version of Gyokeres.
Peter Finn
