Brighton andHove Albion**** are a club on the verge of something special.
This is the thinking of the club’s hierarchy, and increasingly of their fans, as they head into a season where their closest rivals all have busy schedules.
The Seagulls do not conceal their ambition to qualify for European football again, and with the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace all facing midweek congestion, there are hopes this could benefit **Fabian Hürzeler**’s side.
The Sussex side have strengthened this summer with their usual hidden gem-style signings, and despite letting a couple of big names go, if recent seasons are anything to go by, they should not be derailed.
Brighton will think big to achieve what they want, which makes for a fascinating second season of the Hürzeler project.
2024-25 Season Recap
Written by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere
Brighton began the season boldly. In the first eleven games, they defeated Tottenham 3-2, beat Manchester United 2-1, and turned around a poor first half to get the better of Manchester City with the same scoreline.
The Seagulls also drew 1-1 with Arsenal at the end of August, and earned an advantage against Chelsea and Liverpool despite walking away with no points from these fixtures.
Having the youngest-ever manager in the top tier was a risk, but it looked like the faith in Hürzeler was a gamble worth taking.
By the beginning of December, the Seagulls sat fourth in the table. Only five sides had scored more than their 22 league goals, and only two had more than their five draws; signs of what was to come.
A rotten run over the winter would follow, with six blanks in front of goal and two defeats as Brighton buckled to tenth place.
Two long-awaited triumphs in January, including one at Old Trafford, would hardly alleviate pressure, as two more losses followed, including a 7-0 rout by Nottingham Forest.
The response represented their best form of the campaign. Brighton banked a Fifth Round spot in the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea and also won four on the trot to jump back into the top seven.
But inconsistency was the theme of the year, and European ambitions would not be fulfilled.
One win in five in April was costly after a penalty shootout exit against Forest in the FA Cup Quarter-Final.
The club had to be content with eighth place, finishing four points off the Tricky Trees.
Transfer Business
Under the astute eyes of chairman Tony Bloom, CEO Paul Barber and technical director David Weir, Brighton’s transfer strategy is the envy of the Premier League.
Despite others attempting to replicate their strategy, they retain an edge over their rivals and have shown as much this summer.
After signing off on deals to bring in Stefanos Tzimas, Yoon Do-young and Tommy Watson in the second half of the 2024-25 season, the Seagulls have followed up with four more important deals.
These have prioritised repairing a defence which suffered several injuries last season, with Olivier Boscagli, Diego Coppola and Maxim De Cuyper arriving for very different fees.
Boscagli was a target fans were aware of for some time, and Brighton did excellent business to convince the Monegasque to run down his contract at PSV Eindhoven.
Coppola was affordable after a standout season at relegation-threatened Hellas Verona and is a near-exact replica of Lewis Dunk, while De Cuyper was a luxury long-term purchase made in the knowledge Pervis Estupiñán’s time was up.
As João Pedro called time on his Brighton career after a training ground bust-up and a generally angsty 2024-25 season, the Seagulls could also reinvest his £60 million transfer fee into new attacking talent.
Step forward, Charalampos (Babis) Kostoulas, of **Evangelos Marinakis**’ Olympiacos.
Kostoulas did not come cheap, at £30 million plus add-ons, but at just 18 years of age could be the future not just of Brighton’s attack, but also of his entire nation.
Supplementing the strength the Seagulls already have and adding options in defence and attack – meaning they could operate with different tactical systems this season – Brighton’s summer transfer business has been excellent.
Brighton come into the season with a reasonably settled idea of what system they will play, which then dictates who will start.
Hürzeler appears wedded to a 4-2-3-1 system, although it should be added that his system is far more flexible in practice than on paper.
In this tactic, the certainties are that Bart Verbruggen starts in goal, Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke sit ahead of him in central defence, Carlos Baleba operates in midfield, Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh drive on the wings and Danny Welbecks starts up front.
The other positions are up for debate, but at this stage, De Cuyper starts at left-back, Mats Wieffer has custody of the right-back slot, Jack Hinshelwood is ahead of Diego Gómez and Yasin Ayari to partner Baleba, and Georginio Rutter will play in behind Welbeck.
This understanding leaves Brighton with a wealth of options from their bench.
Besides Gomez and Ayari, the Seagulls could also have Boscagli, Coppola, Joël Veltman, Tariq Lamptey, Solly March, Matt O’Riley, Brajan Gruda, Tzimas, Watson, and Kostoulas to choose from.
They have James Milner and Ferdi Kadıoğlu to return from injury, and there must be decisions made on whether or not to loan out Malick Yalcouyé, Facundo Buonanotte, Jeremy Sarmiento and Abdallah Sima.
In short, Brighton have exciting options bursting out of their ears.
One to Watch
Brighton’s squad is bursting with high-quality players who could make this season their own.
As we have seen with Yves Bissouma, Ben White, Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, Moisés Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and **Pedro**in recent seasons, the route to the top is open for those who succeed in Sussex.
The obvious successor to these players is Carlos Baleba, the subject of Manchester United interest currently and hotly tipped by almost all in the game to shoot to superstardom.
On the basis of promise exhibited in 2024-25 and his progress in pre-season, the one to watch this season is surely Yankuba Minteh.
The 21-year-old bagged six goals and four assists in 32 Premier League appearances last season, but started just 20 games and played the full duration of just three of these.
Now he has proved his value to Hürzeler, playing as a right winger, right back and right wing-back, the Gambian should get many more sustained minutes in 2025-26.
With this, expect more goal involvements, more dazzling runs against the league’s best defenders, and many more standout moments that will take Minteh’s name global.
Written by Louis Selling
Brighton had something of an identity crisis last season. They switched systems, formations, and starting line-ups almost every week.
But during pre-season, Hürzeler has decided on a 4-2-4 system, which is certain to cause chaos in the Premier League.
From back to front, the system starts from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who is required to start attacks and pick passes to his wingers.
In defence, two athletic centre-back roles suit van Hecke and Dunk extremely well. The pair play a high line to push the midfield and forwards as high as possible, and this is where the calculated risks of Hürzeler’s system begin.
The right-back role suits either Wieffer or Veltman, as unlike the highly attacking starting left-back, De Cuyper, their main job is to tuck inside and create a back three.
In midfield, Baleba’s primary role is to defend and break up attacks, but he also has the freedom to drive with the ball.
Alongside him, one of Hinshelwood, Ayari or Gómez will play as a box-to-box player; an advanced eight who can get into the box and become a number ten or even a striker.
Minteh arguably has the hardest job in the team on the right wing, being tasked to do all the attacking work before tracking back and covering for the right-back.
Mitoma is given the freedom of the pitch on the left, while the second striker – likely Rutter – must create chances and score goals.
The striker, probably Welbeck, plays as a false nine. They drop deep to pick up the ball, take up clever positions in the box and ultimately must be clinical.
Expectations
Brighton have very clear aims under Bloom and Barber; to finish in the Premier League’s top 10 sides, to compete for European places, and to compete for domestic trophies.
There is no reason to doubt that they can push hard in three of these lanes this season.
They have better depth than last season, and as some have opined, have removed the ‘bad apples’ who consider themselves above the rest of the dressing room.
Mental toughness is the next step.
They have crumbled in promising positions, both last season and in this pre-season, and have looked particularly vulnerable to the counter-attack in games they control.
As ever, the Seagulls’ style should suit them well in matches against ‘Big Six’ opponents, but could be found wanting against more defensive rivals.
Last season, they lost twice to Crystal Palace and took just four points from four home games against Southampton, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They are not ripping up the rulebook in Hürzeler’s second season, however.
This will be a season of refinement, consistency and closer scrutiny on the south coast.
Brighton are hungry to upset the apple cart again.
Premier League Prediction: 6th to 9th
FA Cup Prediction: Quarter-Finals
EFL Cup Prediction: Semi-Final