Brighton's Jack Hinshelwood ‘happy to play anywhere, I just really want to be out on the pitch'

New York Times

30-07-2025

'Definitely,' says Jack Hinshelwood, when asked whether he felt any trepidation after Fabian Hurzeler replaced Roberto De Zerbi as Brighton & Hove Albion's head coach last summer.
'When you break through under one manager and then he leaves, there is a bit of doubt in your mind, but I just had to try to turn that into motivation, really go and prove to the manager my worth to the team.
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'I worked really hard, coming back from an injury (a stress fracture of the foot), to have a good pre-season, to gain my place in the team, and the manager has been great. He has a great personal relationship with everyone. It makes us want to give that extra 10 per cent on the pitch.'
Reflecting on that summer of big change for his boyhood club reveals a rare flicker of vulnerability in Hinshelwood. Not much has fazed the versatile 20-year-old on his pathway to success for club and country.
Since September 2023, when he made his full debut in the Premier League under De Zerbi, Hinshelwood has established himself as a first-team regular in a variety of positions — his next official appearance will be his 50th across all competitions, with a healthy eight goals and three assists in the 49 he's made so far. He approaches 2025-26 as a member of the England squad that won the European Under-21 Championship in June.
Hinshelwood has taken the rapid rise in his stride, including the exit of De Zerbi prompted by irreconcilable differences over transfer policy and the appointment of American-born German Hurzeler as the Italian's successor.
'I've loved playing for both managers,' Hinshelwood tells The Athletic. 'I can't thank Roberto enough for giving me the introduction. They are both very passionate and very emotional. They give you the feeling as players that you want to go out there and run through brick walls for them.
'Roberto's style on the ball was very sort of strict. We had our patterns, and they were set patterns. Fabian is more fluid. There are no strict patterns. We go through ways to break down a team, but we play with fluidity. It is more about counter-pressing and transitions as well.'
Although stylistically different, De Zerbi and Hurzeler both latched onto Hinshelwood's on-pitch versatility, each of them using him at right-back and left-back as well as in the central midfield role he grew up playing. The positions demand varying skill sets.
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'Playing full-back, it's tough defensively,' Hinshelwood says. 'You are up against some of the best wingers in the world, one on one. You have to roll your sleeves up and be prepared for the battle. In midfield, it's 100 miles an hour. There is a lot going on.
'When I play as a full-back, I love getting forward and getting into the box. I always want to be involved in goals and in stopping goals, so sometimes it's harder. I have to be a bit more disciplined, stop the counter-attacks. That is why I love playing in midfield so much. It gives me the license to really get forward but also at the same time be busy defending. Full-back, midfield, they are different challenges. I love them both.'
That adaptability was replicated with England juniors at those Euros in Slovakia, a tournament made even more memorable as it was preceded by Hinshelwood becoming a father for the first time. Head coach Lee Carsley used him in midfield and at right-back but mainly at left-back over the course of five appearances. Hinshelwood was in the starting line-up for a 2-1 defeat by Germany in the group stage finale, and played every minute from then on through to the avenging victory against the same opponents, 3-2 after extra time, in the final.
'Our daughter was born on June 9, and then I was on the bench on the 12th (an unused sub in the first group match, a 3-1 defeat of the Czech Republic), so that was a crazy three days, and then it turned out to be an amazing month,' says Hinshelwood.
'In the first game (against Germany) I was centre-mid, unlucky not to score with a header, and then right-back and left-back for the rest of the games; so a few positions, which is always nice.
'I don't mind it. I think the more positions you can play, the more chance you've got of getting into the starting 11, so I can show my versatility. I can show I can do a job in a few positions, so it helps my selection for the team. I am happy to play anywhere — I just really want to be out on the pitch.'
Hinshelwood's 26 appearances in the Premier League last season — 22 of them starts — included a goal off the bench at home to Liverpool (beating the newly crowned champions 3-2) and two more playing as a false nine at Tottenham Hotspur (a 4-1 victory over a side who'd won the Europa League final four days earlier) in the closing two games as Hurzeler's side finished eighth, narrowly missing out on European qualification.
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'I think overall, when we look back, it was a really good season,' Hinshelwood says. 'We had some really good periods and some tough periods, which is only natural with the amount of new players, new management, a new style and learning to play together. We finished the season really well, gave ourselves a chance at Europe and just missed out.
'We can use that energy now to spur us on and hopefully have another go this season. The bar has definitely been raised over the last few seasons and this club is growing so quickly — it is a privilege to be at the club. I have been here for a while, can see the growth of the club, and the club's growth has also helped me to grow. Coming off the back of an eighth-placed finish, we can really be excited to do even better than that this season.'
Hinshelwood was described as a 'role model' by Brighton's technical director David Weir when he was awarded a new contract in April last year, which runs until the end of the 2027-28 season. He is the first academy product to make it all the way through to the first team since Brighton opened their new training centre at Lancing, west of the south-coast city, in 2014.
'I am really proud of this,' Hinshelwood says. 'Lots of other players have come through and are now playing professional football elsewhere. It has been an amazing journey at this club, joining at eight, training at Worthing Leisure Centre and the university (of Sussex) at Falmer. The club has come so far to have the training ground, the (Amex) stadium, and to have been a top-10 club for the last four years.
'I love every minute of it. I just want to repay on the pitch the faith that people have shown in me.'
Brighton's captain Lewis Dunk, 33, and 31-year-old fellow multi-tasker Solly March have been figureheads for Hinshelwood as older graduates of the club's academy system. Defender Dunk has six England caps, and was an unused member of the squad that finished runners-up to Spain in the 2024 European Championship.
'It's probably not the answer you want to hear, but I don't really look too far ahead,' Hinshelwood says of his own ambitions. 'I already owe so much to the club. I want to really kick on this season, become a regular.
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'Lewis Dunk's journey has been an inspiring one for me. He is someone I have always looked to growing up. Solly as well, both local lads who have gone on to be heroes at the club. I want to have a similar journey to Dunky. He has been to a major competition with England's first team. That would also be a dream of mine.'
The way his career is progressing suggests it is a dream Hinshelwood has a realistic chance of making into reality.