Hurzeler does not 'fear' losing key Brighton players
The Seagulls ended their pre-season unbeaten run with a 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg on Saturday, with Maxim de Cuyper, a 24-year-old Belgian defender signed for a reported £17.5m, scoring his first goal for the club. Baleba was absent as he continues to recover from a knee injury sustained in June, but is expected to be back for the opener against Marco Silva's Fulham. Brighton chairman Paul Barber said during a fan forum he hopes Baleba, who has three years left on his contract at Amex Stadium, stays "for years to come" - but could not make any promises. Hurzeler, meanwhile, did not speak about Baleba's situation when appearing on the Monday Night Club. "It's not easy, but we proved last season that we are a very competitive team," he said about whether he feels frustrated when players are linked with rival clubs. "Without Joao Pedro, for sure, he was an unbelievable player. But we can't replace him with one player, but we can replace him as a team. And that's our focus." Brazil forward Joao Pedro joined Chelsea for £60m on an eight-year contract this summer. Hurzeler continued: "We as a club always find solutions and I'm sure in the future we will find solutions. That's our model, we have to accept it. "I think that as a club we have proved we are not only selling big players. We have had offers for other players - big offers for [Kaoru] Mitoma and other players. We proved that we are not selling every player. "Of course there were some big players who left the club, but there are new players that are coming into the club. With the togetherness we have, with the team chemistry we have, we can compete with the big teams, and we can compete with teams who might be individually better than us."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Plans to convert Peterborough warehouse space into flats
Plans have been submitted to demolish and convert commercial buildings, including warehousing, into Singh Developments Ltd has applied to Peterborough City Council for full planning permission to convert 80 Crown Street into three one-bedroom flats - and create an adjoining new building at the front for two one-bedroom plans also include demolishing warehouses to build six one-bedroom flats on land at 74 to 80 Crown Street.A design statement by PiP Architects said the shift from commercial to residential use would "establish a more harmonious relationship with the surrounding dwellings, minimising the likelihood of noise, disruption, and environmental impact." A total of 11 on-site parking bays are proposed, along with three additional visitor bays, which the applicant claimed would eliminate any additional pressure on existing Crown Street parking. 'Sustainable homes' Previous proposals from the applicant received pushback from Peterborough City Council planners, who said there was an "unjustified loss of employment use".But the fresh plans state that the applicant would provide a "comprehensive marketing assessment" demonstrating that the site was no longer viable for employment use."This includes evidence of an extended marketing period without successful interest and an assessment of alternative employment uses," the plans also claimed to address design concerns and noted that the applicant would ensure the development integrated "sensitively" into the local design and access statement concluded: "Ultimately, the new proposal respects the existing, whilst enhancing the local architecture by providing new high-quality, safe and sustainable homes to the neighbourhood."Peterborough City council is yet to make a decision on the application. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Fenerbahce see off Feyenoord to book Champions League playoff with Benfica
José Mourinho is one round away from taking Fenerbahce back into the Champions League for the first time in 17 years. The storied head coach's team surged into the Champions League qualifying playoffs by overturning a two-goal deficit in a 5-2 qualifying round win against Robin van Persie's Feyenoord. Fenerbahce went through 6-4 on aggregate and will face Benfica, where Mourinho got his first head coach job 25 years ago, with a place in the 36-team league phase at stake. The first leg is in Istanbul next Wednesday with the return on 27 August at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, where Mourinho lasted less than three months in 2000. Benfica advanced after beating Nice 2-0 at home, having won the first leg by the same score in France last week. Fenerbahce last played in the group stage of the Champions League in 2008-09 and their biggest rivals, Galatasaray, are also in the draw as Turkish champions. Fenerbahce had lost 2-1 in the Netherlands last week and fell further behind when the Feyenoord defender Tsuyoshi Watanabe scored in the 41st minute. Mourinho's players rallied with two goals before half-time – the second by the Colombia forward Jhon Durán, on a season-long loan from Saudi club Al Nassr. The former Manchester United midfielder Fred padded the lead early in the second half before Talisca completed the scoring. Rangers advanced to the playoffs, 4-2 on aggregate, against Viktoria Plzen despite a 2-1 defeat in the Czech Republic. The Scottish club will welcome Club Brugge in next week's playoff first leg, after the Belgian side staged a 3-2 comeback win against Salzburg to win 4-2 on aggregate. Pafos, champions of Cyprus, beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 to advance 3-0 on aggregate. Pafos will play Red Star Belgrade, the 1991 European Cup winners, who beat Lech Poznan 4-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Serbia. Copenhagen beat its near neighbour Malmö 5-0, one week after a first-leg scoreless draw. The Danish side's reward is a two-legged playoff against the Swiss champions Basel. Qarabag of Azerbaijan routed North Macedonian champion Shkendija 5-1 and 6-1 on aggregate, to earn a playoff against Ferencvaros, a 3-0 winner in Budapest against Ludogorets of Bulgaria. Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty won a penalty shootout at Slovan Bratislava, after the teams drew 1-1 on aggregate. They will travel to Scotland for the playoff first leg against Celtic.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Inheritance tax changes under consideration amid spending gap concerns
The Treasury is reportedly exploring options to raise additional revenue from inheritance tax ahead of the autumn budget. According to The Guardian, officials are examining whether tightening rules around the gifting of assets and money could help address the UK's multi-billion-pound fiscal shortfall. Government U-turns over winter fuel payments and welfare reform have left Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a multibillion-pound spending gap to fill, amid similarly controversial pushes for a 'wealth tax' by some Labour MPs. Among the reported inheritance tax measures under consideration is a potential cap on lifetime gifts, part of a broader review into how assets can be transferred before death to minimise inheritance tax liabilities. A Treasury spokesperson said: 'The best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy – which is our focus. Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms, which are expected to grow the economy by £6.8bn and cut borrowing by £3.4bn. 'We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible, which is why at last autumn's budget, we protected working people's payslips and kept our promise not to raise the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.' Under current UK rules, gifts made more than seven years before a person's death are exempt from inheritance tax. Gifts made between three and seven years prior are taxed on a sliding scale, depending on their value and the total estate. Last week, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) predicted Rachel Reeves is now set for a £41.2 billion shortfall on her 'stability rule' in 2029-30 and has been left with an 'impossible trilemma' of trying to meet her fiscal rules while fulfilling spending commitments and upholding a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes. She will need to raise taxes or cut spending in the autumn budget to plug the gap, Niesr cautioned. In July, some Labour Party figures, including former leader Lord Neil Kinnock and Wales's First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan, called for a wealth tax. Ms Reeves has not ruled out the possibility of a new wealth tax but has been eager to highlight that she will stick to her commitment not to hike tax for 'working people'. However, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismissed the idea. 'This Labour Government has increased taxes on wealth as opposed to income – the taxes on private jets, private schools, changes through inheritance tax, capital gains tax,' he told GB News. 'But the idea there's a magic wealth tax, some sort of levy… that doesn't exist anywhere in the world. 'Switzerland has a levy but they don't have capital gains or inheritance tax. 'There's no kind of magic (tax). We're not going to do anything daft like that.'
