This current Brighton squad has the potential to eclipse what the Seagulls achieved during the 2022/23 campaign.
By Sam McGuire
Under Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton gatecrashed the top six and claimed an unlikely Europa League spot. Some tipped them as having an outside chance for a top-four finish last term but a disappointing season saw them finish 11th. A combination of injuries and failing to replace the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo meant the Seagulls went into freefall for large periods of the campaign. Some even question De Zerbi’s tactics at times, labelling the Italian as naive.
There’s been a lot of change at the Amex this summer.
De Zerbi left and is now in charge of Marseille. Brighton resisted the urge to bring Graham Potter back to the club and instead hired the highly-rated Fabian Hürzeler. The club, having sat on the Caicedo money for 12 months, have also spent close to £150million on transfers to bolster their squad.
There’s now the potential for the Seagulls to, once again, be one of the surprise packages of the season in the Premier League.
They kicked off their campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Everton on the opening day. Last season, Brighton had to wait until matchday 20 for a clean sheet in the English top-flight. The signs are positive. With the exception of João Pedro, last summer’s recruits all seemed to miss the mark. This time around, though, two debutants bagged assists in the victory at Goodison Park.
Mats Wieffer, a £30million signing from Feyenoord, set up Danny Welbeck for the second goal on Merseyside while Yankuba Minteh, an arrival from Newcastle United, carved out the opener for Kaoru Mitoma with a brilliant right-footed cross. The latter has the potential to be one of the signings of the summer if this 45-minute cameo is anything to go by.
Brighton have also added Georginio Rutter, parting with a club-record £40million fee to pry him away from Leeds United, while the highly-rated Brajan Gruda was signed from Mainz.
What has been interesting this summer is how Brighton have looked to improve their offensive options.
Last term, the Seagulls found the back of the net on just 55 occasions. Their average of 1.4 goals per 90 could be bettered by 11 teams in the Premier League. During the 2022/23 campaign, Brighton scored 72 goals and had the fourth-highest goals per game average (1.9).
Their inability to score goals combined with their inability to keep clean sheets meant the Seagulls couldn’t climb the table. The club clearly felt Hürzeler could improve the defensive side of things with coaching but believed the attack was an area of the team to invest in. After all, goals win you games.
Minteh enjoyed a productive loan spell with Feyenoord. The 20-year-old scored 10 goals and chipped in with five assists across 1,462 minutes in the Eredivisie. He was a key player for Arne Slot at De Kuip. The Brighton No. 17 had unbelievable underlying numbers in Holland, finishing the campaign with an Expected Goals per 90 average of 0.65 and an Expected Assists average of 0.29.
Rutter was a revelation for Leeds in the Championship. The versatile forward finished the season with 21 goal involvements and had an Expected Goals and Expected Assists per 90 Contribution of 0.55. Gruda was impactful for Mainz, too. The young winger, who averaged almost four successful dribbles and created 2.34 chances on a per 90 basis, finished the season with an Expected Assists haul of 0.28.
Brighton now have one of the most exciting attacking units in the Premier League with the likes of Minteh, Rutter and Gruda joining Pedro, Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso, Simon Adingra, and Kaoru Mitoma.
There’s enough firepower there for the Seagulls to gatecrash the European places. With a bit of luck, there’s the potential for them to push for a Champions League spot. They’ve quietly gone about their business this summer and this could see them go under the radar.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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