Brighton & Hove Albion are well-placed to continue their progress in the Premier League.
Financially sound with stable ownership, they have more spending power and a deeper squad than ever before to ensure that qualifying for Europe for the first time in 2022-23 does not become just a one-off.
They are increasingly attractive to high-quality potential signings after three top-11 finishes in succession, having established themselves as smart recruiters with a track record for developing and improving the career prospects of players.
Here, The Athletic looks at their plans for January and summer next year.
What positions will they be looking at in 2025?
A near £200million ($254m) splurge in the summer on nine new signings was an unprecedented level of spending by the club, providing the deepest and most talented squad in their history.
Competition is plentiful. With so many players capable of performing to a high level in two or more positions, most areas are well covered. They need another specialist right-back. Ferdi Kadioglu can play on either side of the defence and Jack Hinshelwood made his breakthrough at right-back last season, but he is being used more now in the central midfield role he grew up in through the academy.
Joel Veltman remains a model of consistency, exploiting his experience to avoid being exposed against pacey wingers. Hurzeler described Veltman on Thursday as “one of the most underestimated players in the league”, but the Dutchman turns 33 in January and cannot go on forever. Tariq Lamptey? See below.
The centre of defence is the other position that will eventually require back-up attention, although Ruairi McConville has a bright future. The 19-year-old made his first senior appearances for Northern Ireland in the Nations League earlier this month, coming off the bench in a 2-0 win against Belarus and starting a 2-2 draw with Luxembourg.
Long-serving skipper Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster, 33 years of age and 30 in January respectively, are becoming more susceptible to injuries. Brazilian Igor Julio performed well alongside ever-improving Dutch international Jan Paul van Hecke in Dunk’s absence with a calf injury sustained during the warm-up against Wolves at the Amex Stadium in October.
Are there any players they are already looking at?
They often revisit deals and targets they have missed out on in previous windows. PSV centre-back Olivier Boscagli was on their radar in the summer. The 27-year-old Frenchman becomes a free agent at the end of the season, creating the possibility of a pre-contract agreement in January.
Who will they be looking to sell?
The aforementioned Tariq Lamptey could leave if the right offer comes along. The diminutive Ghana international right-back has become a fringe member of the squad.
Poland international midfielder Jakub Moder is in a similar position to Lamptey. Decisions also need to be made on what the future looks like for some of the multitude of players out on loan, including Senegal international striker Abdallah Sima at Brest and Ecuador international Jeremy Sarmiento at Burnley.
If Evan Ferguson is loaned out in January, it would be purely to give the Republic of Ireland striker more game time in the face of stiff competition for places in the front line, rather than any intention to lose the 20-year-old permanently.
Julio Enciso, who is in a similar situation to Ferguson, volunteered for a run-out in the under-21s on Tuesday (the 20-year-old Paraguayan featured in the first half of a 2-0 win at home to Anderlecht in the Premier League International Cup).
Brighton have grown accustomed to receiving — and usually accepting — big offers from big clubs for star players, as long as both the price and the circumstances are right for them. Topping the list of those likely to attract attention are Joao Pedro, Carlos Baleba and Bart Verbruggen. The club have never been better placed than they are now to persuade players to stay or to absorb departures with ready-made replacements.
What moves have they made already?
Diego Gomez completes an £11million switch from Inter Miami in January. The versatile 21-year-old midfielder will be reunited at the Amex Stadium with Paraguay international team-mate Enciso. They also played together in their homeland for Club Libertad.
An 18-month spell playing with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez for Miami ended for Gomez with a shock 3-2 defeat against Atlanta United in the MLS play-offs in November.
Who will make the key decisions over the two windows?
It is a collaborative process involving senior figures at the club. Technical director David Weir and his assistant Mike Cave head up player recruitment operations. Targets are identified through the secret algorithm of owner-chairman Tony Bloom and cross-checked with the wishes of head coach Fabian Hurzeler.
For example, the data played a leading role in a summer bid to sign 35-year-old Mats Hummels before the German central defender joined Roma as a free agent. Chief executive Paul Barber — Bloom’s right-hand man — focuses on outgoings and financial negotiations.
Which players’ contracts are expiring? Who is expected to renew?
Veltman, Lamptey, Moder and 38-year-old James Milner are all in the final year of their contracts. Milner has been out of action since August with hamstring trouble.
Veltman and Milner bring extra value to the dressing room with their vast experience at elite level, especially if the aim of qualifying to play in Europe for the second time in 2025-26 is achieved.
What sort of budget do they have?
The big summer spend was a one-off, driven by the impact of profit and sustainability rules (PSR) on some Premier League rivals and continental clubs, which meant the types of targets previously out of reach were attainable. Midfield strengthening was also needed following the sales of Moises Caicedo to Chelsea and Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool in the 2023 summer transfer window, plus Pascal Gross’ return to Borussia Dortmund at the start of August.
Even so, they have progressed from a club paying a maximum of £20million for players into one prepared to pay twice as much as that and possibly more in the future (record signing Georginio Rutter cost £40m from Leeds in August).
They made a Premier League record profit of £122.8million in 2022-23 and they will make another bumper profit in 2023-24 (their financial year runs from June to June). Bloom has invested almost £500m in total since 2007. The club wants to gradually start paying him back, a process that began in the 2022-23 accounts with a £33million reduction of the £400million loan balance.
Bloom is not asking for repayment. The lifelong fan is committed to continuing to support the club’s quest to establish themselves in the top 10, with aspirations to compete more regularly for a place in Europe and to win a major trophy.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
