Latest news with #LewisDunk
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Brighton working on deal for Hellas Verona defender Diego Coppola
Brighton & Hove Albion are working on a deal to sign Italian central defender Diego Coppola from Serie A side Hellas Verona. The club are keen to add the 21-year-old to Fabian Hurzeler's squad as part of a refresh in the middle of the defence. Coppola made his senior international debut for Italy in Friday's 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat away to Norway. He received his first call-up to the national senior squad from outgoing coach Luciano Spalletti on the strength of his performances this season for Verona. Advertisement Coppola, 6ft 4ins tall, has emerged through the academy system at Verona to earn a reputation as a committed defender. He made 34 appearances in the 2024-25 campaign, with two goals, as Verona finished in 14th place. He has two years left on his contract at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium. A revamp of Brighton's ageing defence is gathering pace, with Olivier Boscagli lined up on a free transfer from PSV Eindhoven. The 27-year-old Frenchman, a long-time target, will become a Brighton player on July 1 once his contract with the Dutch club has expired. Boscagli's impending arrival follows the £9m signing in January of 23-year-old Eiran Cashin from Championship side Derby County. Lewis Dunk will be 34 in November. Brighton's long-serving captain missed 13 league games through injury this season, which was more than in the previous two seasons combined. Injury problems for Adam Webster limited the 30-year-old to 22 of a possible 38 league appearances. Player of the season Jan Paul van Hecke was the only constant for head coach Fabian Hurzeler at the heart of the back line. Brazilian Igor Julio made a comeback from more than four months out with a hamstring injury in last month's closing 4-1 victory at Tottenham as Hurzeler's side missed out on Europe by finishing eighth. ()
BBC News
29-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
'If everyone was fit, there is no telling where we would be'
We asked for your views on our fan contributor Scott McCarthy's end of season scorecard (27 May, 12:42 BST).Here are some of your comments:Olly: With a young squad and manager in his first season in the Premier League, along with the injury list, it has been a successful season, although frustrating dropping points from winning positions and not doing well against sides that were relegated. The experience of this season bodes well for Albion's biggest obstacle was the many injuries we suffered all season. If everyone was fit there is no telling where they would be now. Most probably in the Champions Many Brighton fans will be used to drama. There are not many seasons when we can say Brighton were average. However, there were times when we dropped crucial points in the latter stages of games when we were in complete control. So it's definitely a case of what could have been, rather than what it has been - and don't get me wrong, we are very grateful for our second-best finish. It just didn't quite hit the European bullseye we were all hoping for. Instead, we hit the middle of the board and bounced out again. Roll on next season!Brian: Overall a good season - we failed to reach the European places due to inconsistency and in particular losing points at the Amex to relegation candidates. A good experience, though, for a young squad for whom I'm sure greater things await. However, time to say goodbye to a great servant of the club, Lewis Dunk.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Your Brighton player of the season
We asked you to select your Brighton player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan with the poll now closed, we can reveal the winner is... Jan Paul van Hecke!Here's what Scott McCarthy from We Are Brighton, external said about him:Van Hecke has been the one constant at the heart of the defence this season. Rattled through more partners than Henry VIII had wives, yet nothing has fazed him. Will surely succeed Lewis Dunk as captain... presuming he breaks the curse of not leaving within months of winning the club's official player of the year the final poll breakdown
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Really special' - Hurzeler proud of young players despite missing senior leaders
Fabian Hurzeler says experienced players have been a big miss for his young Albion side this season. But he adds their progress has been 'really special' in an up-and-down season. Albion are on the brink of only the third top-half finish in their history as they go into the home game with new champions Liverpool. But Hurzeler believes the youthfulness of his squad has gone under the radar. Asked a question along those lines, the head coach said: 'I think that people don't recognise it because they just see the player and say, 'Okay, he plays in the Premier League and so he has to work like a machine, he has to perform like a 25, 26-year-old player who already played five or six years in the Premier League. And that's a big difference. 'That's what I always try to emphasise, that everyone, not only in football but also generally in life, makes mistakes and they will learn from those mistakes. 'The same for me as a gaffer. I also made mistakes during the season and I learn from them and I grow from them, and I will grow from these things. 'The other thing of course is that we have older players in our squad, but they weren't always able to be on the pitch. 'So when we look at the availability of them, we had this season like James Milner, who is crucial for us on the pitch but wasn't there, Jason Steele had some injuries, Lewis Dunk wasn't always get into his rhythm, Adam Webster too, so we had already like four players who weren't there as leaders all the time, and you need these leaders in a team who give the players support, who run the training sessions, who make the standards. 'And that's something we really tried to focus on, that we had a good mix between leaders and young players. 'I think it's really important for the young players to have older players beside them who share their experience. 'Therefore, Danny Welbeck is crucial for us this season, not only as a goalscorer but also as a leader, because he was there most of the time on the pitch and that helped our young players, and it's something I'm really happy about.' Albionls hopes of eueoapn football have been ghit by events in the Fa Cuo final. But they will still be keen for a bgi finish ti what ahs been a season if transmission. The inires to epced plaiers followed the dpartrie of Adam Lalla a and Pascal Gross in the summer. Hurzeler said: 'Of course we need to be patient with young players and we try to get them closer and closer to the team step by step. 'But this season we had to do it quite fast. 'In German there's a sentence 'Throw them in the ice water', so in the cold water and they have to swim, find a way to deal with it. 'And that's something that we are really impressed about my young squad, how they work together, how they find a way to win Premier League games. 'We suffered bad experiences with being 2-0 up in the 85th minutes and weren't able to win the games. 'We had bad experiences during the season, bad results. But they always find a way together, they always stick together and worked hard on the training pitch and improved and improved and improved. 'And that's something really special, that's something that I don't take for granted, and that's why I'm very grateful to be their coach and I will continue, together with my staff, to give them the environment where they can improve. 'Because they are still not finished with their development, there's still a lot of things to improve. 'That's the message I send to them daily. It's like: 'Stay grounded, stay humble. It doesn't matter anything if you've played 30 Premier League games. It's about, in the end, having 600, 700, like James Milner. Thats the goal for you'. 'That's why I try to push them every day.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brighton could be without four players for Liverpool as key men set to return
The season rolls on in the Premier League. Liverpool, in truth, are just counting down the days until they lift the trophy next weekend at Anfield. On Monday, they visit Brighton & Hove Albion in their final away fixture of the season. The Reds have had some downtime in the build-up to the match at the Amex Stadium - head coach Arne Slot was spotted in Ibiza this week - although there are still things to play for for the Seagulls. Brighton go into the game in ninth spot and knowing they could still earn a Europa Conference League position for next season. They are level on points with Brentford, although trail on goal difference. READ MORE: How Adidas could play a part in Florian Wirtz to Liverpool transfer READ MORE: Liverpool have ambitious transfer market plans as aggressive early moves made At times this season the south-coast club looked as though they could potentially push higher up the table, although head coach Fabian Hurzeler will be pleased with what his team have produced in his first term in charge. They will be boosted by crucial players returning on Monday too. Lewis Dunk will be back at centre-back after missing the match with Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out. Joao Pedro will also return after a three-match ban, while Kaoru Mitoma should also be in the matchday squad after heel and back issues have left him sidelined for the last four matches. Joel Veltman is another player who is back fit. "Lewis is back in the squad. Joel will be back in the squad," Hurzeler told the media before the game. "It's all very positive news. Kaoru had some minor issues, so hopefully he will be a possibility for us in the squad. Overall, it's very positive and we have more options." The Seagulls do still have some injury doubts, as their head coach confirmed in his pre-match press conference. "Georginio Rutter is also very close, so hopefully he'll be back with the team next week [ahead of the final game of the season]," Hurzeler said. "There's a small chance, like I said from the beginning, that he can be an option for the end of the season, for the last game. "James (Milner) is doing rehab on the pitch, so he's getting closer. I'm not sure if we will see him this season, but it's a nice process what he's going through now." Solly March and Ferdi Kadioglu will also likely miss the match due to injury. Liverpool could have a fully-fit squad to take to the Amex Stadium, with Joe Gomez back in full training after being missing since January.
