Who could be heading towards the exit at Brighton? And what are the areas in need of strengthening? Analysis, insight and opinion on what the Seagulls need to do in the transfer market this summer...
Tuesday 31 May 2022 07:31, UK
Which positions are Brighton targeting in the summer transfer window? What has Graham Potter said? And what do the stats say?
Sky Sports News' Elliot Cook:
Following Brighton's record-breaking ninth-place finish, it's no surprise the vultures appear to be circling for some of their star players.
One of the dominant narratives around the club during the summer will be the future of Yves Bissouma. The midfielder was the subject of a bid from Aston Villa in January and they along with other clubs, remain keen on the Mali international. Brighton would be willing to sell Bissouma if the right offer was made. The former Lille man has one year left on his contract. A replacement may well come in if Bissouma departs.
Marc Cucurella has been strongly linked with Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham. It will take a mammoth bid to take the Seagulls' Player of the Season away. The message from inside the club is that they are under no pressure to sell unless an offer too good to refuse is made.
The noise from outside the club demands Brighton to sign a striker to convert the high number of chances that are created. They hope they already have one. Deniz Undav was signed from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in January. He was immediately loaned back to USG to help their quest to land the league title which ultimately ended in disappointment in the play-offs. Undav won the Jupiler Pro League Player of the Season Award, scoring twenty-five goals in thirty-three games in the regular season as they finished top.
Danny Welbeck and Pascal Gross are close to signing new contracts while it's expected Aaron Connolly will be loaned out again or even sold. Other players such as Jan Paul van Hecke and Reda Khadra will be assessed. There will be departures.
Graham Potter recently suggested selling a player at the right time for the right price is crucial to help Brighton re-invest and compete. It could be an interesting summer on the Sussex coast.
There is no secret to what Brighton need: a centre forward.
Only Norwich underperformed their expected goals (xG) by a greater margin than Brighton (-12.45) and only the bottom three teams had a lower shot-conversion rate than Brighton's 8.6 per cent this season.
This is a familiar problem for Potter's side: the Seagulls had the third-worst xG differential and fourth-worst shot-conversion rate last season.
Since his transfer to Brighton in August 2019, Neal Maupay is in the top 10 for xG. However, he has scored 26 goals with an xG differential of 36.68 - the highest for any player in that time period.
Brighton manager Graham Potter speaking at the end of May:
"I won't complain about having too many £40 million or £50 million players, that's for sure. You know the narrative. You need to keep your best players. I understand why that is because that's just sensible.
"But there is a hierarchy in football and there is a reality of finances. We can't sit here and say, 'Yeah, we're going to keep all our players between now and five years' time' because clearly that puts a huge strain on the economic position of the club.
"It's important for us to keep moving that forward and that's the way we compete, I think. Selling Ben [White] for £50 million and getting better is how we can compete in the system.
"Then it's about selling the right player at the right time at the right price and I think we are quite good at that - or we have been recently.
"I have absolute confidence in the club. I have absolute confidence in us in terms of finding the right solution to go forward."
Sky Sports' David Richardson:
This transfer window is as much about retaining key players as it is adding quality.
Tying down Leandro Trossard, Neal Maupay and Alexis Mac Allister will be top of the agenda with their contracts set to expire in June 2023. Retaining midfielder Yves Bissouma, whose contract also expires at the end of next season, will be a particularly difficult task given several Premier League clubs are reportedly interested in signing the 25-year-old.
Then there's Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck whose contracts expire this summer. Gross, 30, is already very close to penning a new deal while Welbeck, 31, has also impressed enough to warrant longer in Graham Potter's squad.
Brighton will once again have to address their lack of firepower, a problem which has plagued the club for several seasons. Only four teams scored fewer than the Seagulls this season - and three of them went down.
But, don't forget, Brighton will welcome January signings Deniz Undav, a £7m striker from Royal Union Saint-Gilloise, and Polish midfielder Kacper Kozlowski, an £8m signing from Pogon Szczecin, for pre-season after they spent the remainder of the season on loan.
