[Albion](https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/albion/) are well known for their succession planning and in few areas has the baton been passed as efficiently as in central midfield.
The time for the next transition has not come yet - despite headlines around Carlos Baleba.
From young Yves Bissouma taking a season to find his feet and overcome a shoulder problem and take over from Dale Stephens.
To Moises Caicedo spending time in the under-23s, on loan in Belgium and then on the bench before emerging as a Prem powerhouse.
To Baleba then coming in to succeed Caicedo in that role.
Of course all those players have been a bit different.
Alexis Mac Allister also deserves a mention in that midfield succession plan given he played deep for a while, in that period between Bissouma leaving and the 2022 World Cup.
And they have had to overcome major setbacks at times in terms of Jakub Moder’s knee injury and Enock Mwepu’s heart condition.
It feels like they are not ready yet to lose Baleba.
Is Baleba himself ready to move into the Manchester United midfield and the Old Trafford goldfish bowl? There is another debate to be had there if it comes to that.
So what happens in a year’s time if that is the moment for a change?
Albion like to get the replacement in well before they make a sale.
Two names come to mind. Diego Gomez and Malick Yalcouye.
True, Gomez probably likes to operate a bit further forward than we see from Baleba but he has only had a half a season in the Premier League and is still learning his way around.
The word we are consistently getting about Yalcouye is that he will be back out on loan this season.
But he looked like he had progressed and developed [when we saw him in two 45-minute outings in Marbella.](https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/25320253.brighton-midfielder-malick-yalcouye-impressing-fabian-hurzeler/)
If he gets the right loan and responds as well as he did at Sturm Graz last season, will we be looking at him as the next part of the succession by next summer?
Swansea are said to be interested and that Championship challenge could work in the same way as it did for Ben White, Jan Paul van Hecke and Yasin Ayari.
Then there is Jack Hinshelwood, very much an established Prem player but not really an established Prem central midfielder, which is where Hurzeler seems to prefer him despite what we saw at the under-21 Euros.
There is a plan there. Selling Baleba now is not part of it.