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The Guardian
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Premier League 2025-26 preview No 5: Brighton
Guardian writers' predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons' prediction but the average of our writers' tips) Last season's position: 8th Although Brighton missed out on qualifying for Europe again, there was a sense of optimism rather than disappointment at the end of Fabian Hürzeler's first season at the helm. Had it not been for a costly loss of form in the spring that brought one point from four league games and a defeat by Nottingham Forest on penalties in the last eight of the FA Cup, the German head coach might even have matched his predecessor, Roberto De Zerbi's achievement of finishing sixth. After a raft of injuries to key players all season and with several signings from a summer spending spree of almost £200m struggling to settle, it was to Hürzeler's credit that his team ended only one point short of Brighton's record points tally from 2023 after three wins to round off the campaign. Now, in the words of chair Tony Bloom, with the youngest permanent Premier League manager having gained a year's experience, 'we are hoping for more next season'. Brighton scored 66 goals – the joint fifth-highest in the division – so much will depend on strengthening a defence that conceded 59, with the emphasis this summer on finding a long-term replacement for the veteran captain Lewis Dunk as he enters the last year of his contract. Diego Coppola, an Italy Under-21 centre-back, and Olivier Boscagli, who arrived on a free transfer from PSV, will be joined by the exciting Belgium left-back Maxim De Cuyper as Hürzeler hopes to build a more settled unit. The departure of João Pedro, who became the latest Brighton player to join Chelsea, has been offset by the signing of the highly regarded 18-year-old striker Charalampos Kostoulas. His fellow Greece Under-21 international Stefanos Tzimas and Sunderland's playoff hero Tommy Watson will provide more attacking options for a squad that still includes the outstanding Kaoru Mitoma despite speculation he could depart and looks equipped to maintain a sustained push for Europe. Hürzeler is guaranteed to wear his heart on his sleeve and has proved a hit with Brighton's supporters after the popular De Zerbi's departure. In an interview with British GQ in April, the 32-year-old revealed that he loves watches and Coldplay but never sits down in front of the television because there 'are so many better things to do'. 'I'm a big believer that the limit for our body is really high, and I think we don't always try to push our limits,' he said. Brighton's players should be well prepared for the start of the season in that case. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion After a record-breaking 2022-23 that yielded profits of £112m, Brighton announced a £73.3m profit in March – largely a result of receiving another large chunk from the British record sale of Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea. João Pedro's departure for £60m will help to balance the books after last summer's massive outlay made them the biggest net spenders in Europe. Bloom, who bought 29% of the Scottish club Hearts in June, is estimated to have invested more than £400m at his home-town club since becoming chair in 2009. In April, the long-serving chief executive, Paul Barber, committed his future until 2030. Much is expected of Kostoulas after Brighton saw off interest from several other clubs, including Chelsea, to snap him up for an initial fee of almost £30m that could rise by £2m to make him the most expensive Greek player in history. Represented by the same agent who took Giannis Antetokounmpo to the NBA, he became the youngest player to make a professional appearance for Olympiakos when he represented their B team at 15 years and seven months, before he was part of the side that won the prestigious Uefa Youth League last year. Kostoulas will learn plenty from the evergreen Danny Welbeck, who finished as last season's joint top scorer and turns 35 in November. Bart Verbruggen, having strangely alternated with Jason Steele under De Zerbi, was preferred between the sticks by Hürzeler last season but the Dutchman made several costly errors. Nonetheless, a recent survey by the Swiss research group CIES Football Observatory identified the 22-year-old as potentially the world's most valuable goalkeeper with a projected fee of £54m. Verbruggen, who joined Brighton in 2023 from Anderlecht for £16m, will need to show more consistency to retain Hürzeler's faith, although the England Under-21 goalkeeper James Beadle was allowed to join Birmingham on loan rather than provide more competition for the Netherlands international.
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Dunk's contribution to Brighton's rise is close to immeasurable – but it is time to upgrade him
It's time to start an uncomfortable conversation. It's time for Brighton & Hove Albion to upgrade Lewis Dunk. Being a one-club player and captaining your boyhood club is just as sacrosanct as it is rare in 2025. The 33-year-old is inseparable from Brighton's rise over the past two decades. When they won League One in 2011, Dunk was in his first full season as a professional. Advertisement He was Brighton's top scorer across all competitions in 2014-15 (seven goals) as the club just stayed up in the Championship. There was his indomitable partnership with Shane Duffy, registering the most clean sheets in the Championship as Brighton won promotion under Chris Hughton, and they were the bedrock that helped the club stabilise in the Premier League. When Graham Potter succeeded Hughton in the summer of 2019, and the club changed strategy — focusing their recruitment on younger players and transforming their style on the pitch — Dunk reinvented himself. Having defended the box most weeks, he was now asked to play against pressure, stay on the ball, and break lines. He also replaced Bruno Saltor as club captain from the 2019-20 campaign. Dunk's new partner in the heart of defence was Adam Webster, then a club-record signing from Bristol City in August 2019. Potter tweaked his shape, sometimes picking two centre-backs and other times three, but Dunk stayed. His evolution earned him an England call-up just over 12 months after his Premier League debut. Then in 2022 came Roberto De Zerbi and the most extreme build-up tactics: stand beside the six-yard box, keep your sole on the ball until opponents press you, then play short passes into the midfielders. Out of possession, the centre-backs were required to man-mark opponents and press all the way into the opponents' third. Levi Colwill joined on a season-long loan from Chelsea because the system needed an athletic, left-footed centre-back next to Dunk. That season, he turned 31, and played 36 of 38 league games as Brighton finished a club-record sixth to qualify for Europe for the first time. Dunk captained them in the Europa League in the 2023-24 season, with Brighton topping a group that contained Marseille, AEK Athens and Ajax before being eliminated by Roma in the round of 16. His centre-back partner had changed again, with Jan Paul van Hecke, a Netherlands international, establishing himself under De Zerbi and then current head coach, Fabian Hurzeler. The question, when Dunk one day retires, is where they put the statue and what they make it out of. Everton's Seamus Coleman is the only longer-serving player at a Premier League club. In another universe, Dunk's ceiling might have been the Championship or a bottom-half Premier League team. It speaks to how easy he is to coach, his talent and his capacity for reinvention that four very different coaches have viewed him as leadership material and a core player. Advertisement It became clear in 2024-25, though, especially on a physical level, that Dunk's peak years are behind him. A mix of chest and calf injuries kept him out of much of the second half of the season. He only made 23 league starts and clocked just over 2,000 minutes, his fewest in eight years as a Premier League player. Hurzeler said in May that Dunk was not regularly training and thus 'not on his highest physical level'. The added difficulty is that the physical demands for Premier League centre-backs have risen sharply in recent years, more than any other position. Hurzeler called 2024-25 'a difficult season' for Dunk. 'He never really got into his rhythm,' the head coach explained. He missed the start of Brighton's pre-season after being part of England's squad at Euro 2024, disrupting his club campaign before it had even begun. 'But he is always there. He never hides when he gets critical feedback,' Hurzeler added. 'He never hides when he has a bad performance. He always stands as a man, and that shows big, big character. He is getting more and more into the role of being a communicator. 'I always emphasise that it's important from our skipper. No matter if Lewis starts or not, he will be in the squad and he has an impact on our team by his authority, by his experience, by his voice.' Dunk has won six England caps and made more than 250 Premier League appearances, adding valuable experience to the second-youngest team in the league last term. Even Hurzeler is only 32. 'That's the challenge here, that we have to do it with a very young squad,' said Hurzeler at the end of last season on trying to achieve success and win silverware. 'The teams who win the title are mostly mature and have a lot of mature players in the squad.' As he approaches his 16th season as a professional, Dunk's know-how might be worth more to Brighton than what he can offer on the pitch. Hurzeler said during the run-in last season that 'we weren't able to have a lot of leaders on the pitch', even though Brighton took 13 points from their final five matches to finish eighth. Advertisement Dunk did not play in the final three fixtures and missed most of Brighton's six-game winning streak across February and March — he went off injured at half-time of the FA Cup win at home to Chelsea, the first match in that run. Beyond availability, there was too much of a reliance on Van Hecke to start Brighton's attacks from defence last term. Van Hecke, who turned 25 in June, played the most line-breaking passes of any Premier League player, according to SkillCorner. He accounted for 22.5 per cent of all of Brighton's progressive passes, the highest rate of any player at any club in the division. As a right-footer playing on the left, Dunk is predisposed to having fewer forward passing angles available. It is why he rarely, if ever, carries the ball out of defence, as it would limit his passing options inside. Looking at how Dunk distributed the ball last season, the relative infrequency of his central line-breaking passes is an issue. Instead, his trademark upfield pass has become a lofted ball either to the feet of left-winger Kaoru Mitoma, or in behind for the speedy Japan international to chase (see the most and third-most common passes on the graphic above). Here are three instances last season of Dunk playing that pass first time with his right foot. Dunk's relative one-footedness, especially compared to Webster — who can use either foot when he plays left centre-back — is why opponents often target him with pressing traps. Olivier Boscagli has joined on a free transfer from PSV and, as a natural left-footer, could play a crucial role. The 27-year-old recorded six assists from centre-back last season and completed the most progressive passes in the Dutch Eredivisie (363 according to FBref, 79 more than second-placed Joey Veerman). Dunk's physicality used to be his super-strength. Few possessed his particular blend of tenacious shot-blocking and nonchalant chest passes and headers back to the goalkeeper. Injuries, age and a lack of consistent minutes have reduced that ability. One of the clearest examples was a drop-off in attacking output. Advertisement In Potter's first two seasons, Dunk was among the league's most effective centre-backs from set pieces, scoring eight times and registering more than 60 shots. The 2024-25 campaign was his first without a goal since 2013-14. He has increasingly struggled against big, physical strikers, such as Aleksandar Mitrovic when the Serbia international was at Fulham, or Romelu Lukaku, who had the better of Dunk twice in March 2024 (Roma's 4-0 victory against Brighton in the Europa League round of 16 first leg, and in Belgium's 2-2 draw with England at Wembley three weeks later. Brighton's worst half in any match last season was the first 45 minutes away to Chelsea in September. Hurzeler went with an exceptionally high line, pairing Dunk and Webster at centre-back as Van Hecke was injured. They struggled against Chelsea's fast front four and the incisive passing of Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer. Six through balls were completed in behind the Brighton defence as Palmer scored four first-half goals to turn an early 1-0 lead for Hurzeler's side into a 4-1 half-time deficit. Here, as former Brighton loanee Colwill splits the press, Fernandez receives in the half-space and wriggles clear from Carlos Baleba. Dunk and Webster are two-v-one against centre-forward Nicolas Jackson. Webster, really, should jump to Fernandez here. What breaks the defence and beats the offside trap is Palmer's run between Dunk and Pervis Estupinan. Fernandez slips the England forward through, and neither Dunk nor Webster is even back in the penalty area by the time he dinks a shot past Bart Verbruggen, which hits the post. An even simpler move exposed the high line later on. Palmer rotated wide and hit a first-time pass in behind as the Brighton defence shuffled across. Dunk ended up square and lost track of Noni Madueke when the winger spun him and raced through. With Dunk's recovery speed lower than it once was — and never a particular strength in the first place — both Webster and Ferdi Kadioglu cover for Dunk and throw themselves at shots. Transitioning Dunk into more of a squad role is best for all involved. There was a time when Brighton struggled without him. He only missed four games across Brighton's first three Premier League seasons and it was not until the end of 2020-21 that they won a game in the competition without him — a 3-2 comeback win at home against Manchester City. Advertisement Until the end of the 2023-24 season, Brighton's record in Premier League games without Dunk was close to relegation level: four wins, 12 draws and nine defeats — just 24 points from 23 games. In 2024-25, though, they recorded nine wins, three draws and only one defeat (2-1 away against Liverpool) when Dunk did not start. Webster and Van Hecke made for a fine, balanced pairing. This does not need to become a Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal situation where a legend overstays and overplays to the detriment of everyone. All progress requires change. Brighton could not have got to this point without Dunk. The future, though, means they need to start enacting succession plans.
BBC News
28-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Brighton & Hove Albion kit team completes 35-mile charity walk
The team which looks after the kit for Brighton and Hove Albion's players has completed a 35-mile (56km) charity Burrows, Harry Wood and the club's media manager Matt Bishop set off from the village of Rustington in West Sussex on Wednesday and arrived at the Amex Stadium on Friday afternoon. The event was to mark the 35th anniversary of the Brighton and Hove Albion FC charity foundation, with a fundraising target of £35, Burrows said "the support was incredible all along the route". Known as Buzz, he is raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity after his son was diagnosed with a tumour. He said: "As a kit team, we work closely with the foundation and we all know the amazing work they have done in the local area to change lives through football over the last 35 years. "We're hoping to raise some money to help them over the next 35."The team members were joined on the first day of the walk by DJ and Seagulls fan Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim, and 2013 Masterchef: The Professionals winner Steven Edwards, a Hove Burrows told BBC Radio Sussex: "The first two and a half days were predominantly flat, but we hit some inclines on Friday which was tough. "I'm glad we got them on the last day rather than the first." Seagulls player Lewis Dunk joined the walkers on said: "I've grown up here and I've always tried to get involved with the community and help as much as I can."It has been a good day." The team handed out sports kit to local schools on the Hürzeler, Brighton manager, said: "It's a great opportunity to say thank you to the kit team. They do an unbelievable job."
New York Times
09-06-2025
- 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.
