Sensible Transfers 1 : Brighton

Brighton are the first team to be analysed in this series. After finishing 16 th despite playing considerably good football, Brighton will want to raise their level.

They under performed their expected goals severely, so it goes without saying that they need a goalscorer and at the minimum, someone to back him up.

It’s been no secret that many teams that really only have 1 source of goal scoring have suffered.

• Mane’s drop in form and Jota’s injury weakening Liverpool.
• Aguero and Jesus being injured weakened City early on in the season(though to be fair the increase in the quality of their defense plus the form of the midfielders solved that.)
• The lack of a sure goalscorer is one of the main reasons as to why Chelsea struggled last season(especially due to Werner’s dip.)
• Arsenal only having Lacazette with Auba being out of form is on of the many things that contributed to them finishing 6 points outside the top 4.
• Everton only having Calvert Lewin as Richarlison lost his goal scoring eye.
• Callum Wilson’s injury and Joelinton’s lack of form at Newcastle.
• Jimenez’s absence especially is the main reason why Wolves’ finished 13th after being in the top 7 for two seasons running.
• Palace only having Zaha realistically to target up front for majority of the season(though Benteke did have a decent vein of form at a point.)
• Danny Ings’ absence from Southampton for majority of the season leading to them going months without a win.
• Plus Fulham,West Brom and especially Sheffield all struggled for goals throughout last season.

You need at least two sources of goals whether they’ll be on the pitch at the same time or one will serve as a backup is dependent on the coach.

However two or more is a must, in the case of a team like Spurs they’ll still need another one in conjunction with Kane and Son.

A team like Burnley can do with only one cause majority of their wins are 1 goal and they’re good enough defensively to defend a 1–0. Plus they can score more through set pieces and there’s the added advantage of Chris Wood never getting injured.

Brighton however in order to be safe need to make 2 signings in the goalscorer area. Whether they’ll start together in a front two or three or they’ll be main and backup is relative. Ideally they should sign 1 permanent and 1 loan.

The next position I can highlight after those two signings is center back. Ben White’s seeming departure to Arsenal means that they’ll need to fill the gap left.

The final signing I believe Brighton should make is a right back.

Tariq Lamptey was a major portion of Brighton’s attack last season and it was no secret that his absence affected them. A backup is needed. Joel Veltman is decent but he lacks heavily in the attacking department and would be more useful on the right of Brighton’s back three.

I would have added a Bissouma replacement but that is already covered with Mkwepu’s arrival.

1 STRIKER.

There is a real striker shortage in Europe at the moment. Manchester City,Manchester United,Liverpool,Chelsea,Real Madrid,Barcelona, Juventus,Bayern are all lacking a under 30 proper number nine who is in goal scoring form.

All their nines are either false nines or over 30.

However a team like Brighton does not have the same criteria as those teams. They don’t need a proven 20 plus goal a season striker. All they need is someone who can get to double figures.

Brighton however don’t have to sign a proper striker. They play a front two meaning the other nine can do all the work needed. All they need is a goalscorer.

Brighton are not likely to spend more than 30 million no matter how much they receive from the Ben White to Arsenal deal. Plus you average 30 million attacker will need a lot of convincing if he is to join a team 16 th in the league.

I have shortlisted the following people.

• Ante Rebic 27 ,Matheus Cunha 22 ,Armine Gouiri 21,Wout Weghorst 28 , Joaquin Correa 26 , Ivan Toney 25, Patrick Schick 25 , Maxi Gomez 24, Kasper Dolberg 23, Musa Barrow 22,Carlos Vinicius 26, Adam Armstrong 24, Roman Yaremchuk 25, Adam Hlozek 18,Eddie Nketiah 22,Roland Sallai 24,Haris Seferovic 29, Odsonne Edouard 23.

Many of these however are bets. One can however rule out the likes of Rebic and Weghorst as they play for UCL teams meaning they don’t have much to price them away.

One can also rule out Schick. After an exemplary Euros, he’ll want to build upon that form in the Bundesliga.

One can also rule out Toney. While I personally believe Brentford will get relegated, I still think Toney will try and stay for that 1 season and see how it goes.

Adam Armstrong would have been perfect but he’s already on the radar of Brighton’s neighbours Southampton who will be financially buoyed by the extremely possible sale of Danny Ings.

Cunha,Gouri and Dolberg are all capable of bigger moves therefore I don’t see them moving to Brighton.

Musa Barrow would also have been perfect. He got 8 goals and 10 assists in Serie A last season however he has since signed a permanent contract to Bologna.

At 29 , it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to sign Seferovic. Yaremchuk is unlikely. Nketiah would most likely be a loan move and is probably the biggest gamble.

Roland Sallai is also perfect however he’s not my pick as the main goalscorer. Same as Adam Hlozek.

So it’s a tight race between Maxi Gomez, Odsonne Edouard and Carlos Vinicius.

• Carlos Vinicius has a market value of 18 million which is achievable for Brighton.He’s also aged 26 which is niceHe did not have the best time at Spurs but he can still serve them.
• Odsonne Edouard at age 23, with a market value of 17 million after having scored 18 goals for Celtic would be perfect.
• Maxi Gomez at age 24 having scored 7 goals and registered 5 assists at a struggling Valencia would be perfect but he’s not likely to try out EPL football and even if he is he still costs 25 million which is a bit too much for Brighton at the moment.

THE PICK.

Brighton are already in for him with rumors being that they have tabled 21 million for his services.

2. BACKUP GOALSCORER.

A backup goalscorer for a team like Brighton should ideally be a lone move, a free transfer or a move of less than 10 million euros.

2 or more goalscorers is key for Brighton as they don’t want to find themselves in the top half at the start of the season and then towards the end of the season fight relegation. It’s not worth it to have 1 and then he gets injured.

Therefore my shortlist includes

• Eddie Nketiah 22,Rafa Mir 24, Takumi Minamino 26, Ademola Lookman 23, Arnaud Kalimuendo 19, Grady Diangana 23,Mergim Berisha 23,Riess Nelson 21,Joshua Zirkzee 20,Ianis Hagi 22.

Let’s analyse the 10 options:

• Nketiah has had a terrible season at Arsenal and therefore he’d want to revive his career with a loan to Brighton. He has also seemingly dropped down the Arsenal pecking order with Auba,Laca and academy starlet Balogun. Not to forget that Arsenal’s seeming spending spree may include a striker.
• Rafa Mir spent last season on loan at Huesca and with Jimenez’s return from injury and the unlikelihood of Fabio Silva’s departure it may seem that he will be 3rd choice. However that depends. Manager Bruno Lage does prefer to use a 4–4–2 which might favor him. However it is not a guarantee. There’s however been massive interest from Atletico.
• Takumi Minamino is a winger, however considering the fact that Liverpool’s attack is already packed plus they may consider a move for another attacker I believe a loan move to Brighton would be perfect for him. He was not the most successful at Southampton but a full year rather than 6 months may favor him.
• Ademola Lookman is also a winger. But considering the fact that he might not yet get into Leipzig’s plans another loan move wouldn’t hurt him so much. Plus he’d offer creativity as well as an alternative goal threat.
• Arnaud Kalimuendo is young, only 19, and talented. However, it is unlikely that he will start for PSG and with that in mind I believe he could do with a loan or even permanent move to Brighton. It would save Brighton in the short term as well as develop him.
• Grady Diangana is just from making a big money move to the Baggies. But it was far from favorable. He wasn’t as productive as he and WBA would have wished plus he was benched at a point. He’s a winger but very much a goal threat.
• Mergim Berisha is a more than perfect option. In fact had it not been for Brighton having already picked Odsonne Edouard he would have been my pick for main striker. 14goals and 10 assists in 28 league games, 4 and 2 in 6 UCL games his return is unmatched. He however would be very difficult to acquire as Salzburg have already sold Patson Daka to Leicester for 22 million.
• Riess Nelson is another Arsenal man on this list. With Martinelli,Saka and Pepe , I personally wanted him to become Arsenal’s 4 th winger option as Willian should be gone, Lacazette is likely to leave plus Auba would play as a 9 with either Balogun or a new signing backing him up. However, Arteta and I don’t share that thought line. Therefore a loan move would be perfect for him. 1 it’s in the Premiership. 2 He has all the qualities to fit Brighton’s style(not necessarily as a wing back but as a free roaming striker.) plus he offers both creativity and goalscoring. However he is not exactly what Brighton need.
• Joshua Zirkzee had an unsuccessful 20–21 season. With that in mind you could bet all your money (don’t) that Bayern are not going to use him and are most probably lining up a different striker to replace Lewandowski. Therefore in order for him to move up the Bayern pecking order, he could try a loan move or even a permanent one with a buy back clause. He is however a massive gamble.
• Finally we have Ianis Hagi(Gheorghe Hagi’s son). He can play down the middle as a false nine,both wings, as a 10 and even as an attacking 8 in a 4–3–3. This versatility in addition to his undeniable creativity would be key to Brighton’s season. He undeniably however, has an eye for goal which is most important. Remember he doesn’t have to be the main scorer just an alternative. 6goals in the league for Rangers last season is not a bad return considering he’s not the main scorer.

So it’s a close race between Riess Nelson,Eddie Nketiah,Ianis Hagi and Arnaud Kalimuendo.

MY PICK.

Ianis Hagi is the pick of the bunch. His versatility, a decent eye for goal and creativity are too great to ignore. Plus I think he’s ready for a level more competitive than the Scottish Premiership which is the Prem.

3. CENTER BACK.

Ben White is practically gone. 50 million is too great an offer for Brighton to ignore. It would give them the 30 million or so required to sign the first two plus 20million surplus to sign a center back who’ll replace him.

This idea in mind let’s have a look at my shortlist.

• Tosin Adarabioyo 23, Nat Phillips 24,Jeremiah St. Juste 24, Ethan Ampadu 20

Let’s analyse the 4.

• Tosin Adarabioyo might have been relegated but as was consistent with Fulham they had a good defensive record, ranking among the top 10 best in the league for most of the season. However they just couldn’t score. This has nothing to do with Adarabioyo though. He’s fast,strong,intelligent for his age, good in the air and like your average modern center back good on the ball as well.
• Brighton have already made a 15 million bid for Nat Phillips. Who is not a bad choice considering he’s not going to get game time for Liverpool(who have Van Dijk,Matip and Gomez all back, have signed Konate and do no rule out bringing in Kabak) plus he did decently well for Liverpool last season.
• Jeremiah St.Juste is a very educated pick in my opinion. He has all the qualities Graham Potter would want in a center back plus he’s very much experienced and Mainz would be willing to sell for the right amount.
• Next up is Ethan Ampadu. Ampadu is a great pick because one he’s good on the ball, 2 he’s improving his physicality ,3 he’s versatile and 4 with the presence of Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta, the resurgence of Andreas Christiensen and Antonio Rudiger, the unlikelihood of Kurt Zouma’s departure, the return of Malang Sarr plus the likelihood of Chelsea signing another center back, Ampadu should be happy to make a permanent swith to a team willing to give him game time.

MY PICK.

Ethan Ampadu is my personal pick. He has all the qualities to serve Brighton and also be a top center back in future plus he’s never going to start for Chelsea.

If you’re a Chelsea fan I don’t mean to target your club but it’s no secret that no Chelsea youngster has ever succeeded without leaving the club. Chelsea’s mass loan system halts player development.

Mount,James and Gilmour were just lucky they found Lampard at the club. Even Tomori it’s just that eventually with Thiago Silva’s arrival Tomori fell down the pecking order.

Look at Tammy Abraham. He has all the potential to become a 20 goal a season striker but Tuchel and the Chelsea board consider him expendable.

Ampadu does not have to become another Tomas Kalas or Marko Marin or Marco Van Ginkel. He can make a permanent move and succeed. If Chelsea want him they’ll come for him.

FINALLY RIGHT BACK.

Brighton need a backup right back and quite possibly a replacement(it’s not guaranteed that Lamptey will stay.) However if they get at least 20 or 30 million from his sale it can refund the money they’ll spend on his back up and leave enough for a replacement.

And here there’s no candidates cause I already have a pick.

Cedric Soares has spent a pointless past 18 months at Arsenal. He’s been far from the man they expected him to be. This is perfect for Brighton however.

1, Arsenal have Chambers and are signing another starting right back with the money from Bellerin’s seeming departure.

2 Arsenal might keep Maitland Niles which would still be perfect as they will have another right back.

3 Cedric would be looking to revive his career.

4 He’d only cost 10 million. Plus he can’t command a large salary.

5 If Brighton approach him Arsenal would be willing to sell as he adds to the transfer budget and lightens the wage bill.

6 He plays both flanks.

Anyways those are my picks. Brighton would have to spend around 60 million to sign them but considering they’re going to make 50 million from the sale of Ben White plus the 25 million they spent on Mkwepu will be refunded by the 35 or so million they are likely to get for Bissouma, it’s not impossible.

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