In the past few days, Chelsea have announced the signing of Moises Caicedo for a British record £115 million.
As well as this, they sold previous midfield stalwart Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool. It’s thought that Brighton will need some serious replacements despite the acquisitions of Mo Dahoud and James Milner. Whilst these are two good players neither are ball winners and so therefore are not genuine Caicedo replacements.
Roberto De Zerbi would have wanted to avoid losing his best two central midfielders this summer. However after losing Alexis Mac Allister earlier this summer and with Chelsea’s offer for Caicedo being too good to turn down, it is worth looking at how Brighton will rebuild their midfield.
Brighton have made £145 million by selling their midfielders so have a big budget to spend and to replace the South American duo.
With Joao Pedro coming through the door and the quality which young Julio Enciso showed at the end of last season it should mean that Brighton doesn’t need a number 10 (which is a role Alexis Mac Allister spent a lot of time in last season) and with Mo Dahoud and James Milner joining on frees it should mean that Brighton only really need two centre midfielders good enough to start and then they could have a really strong team for next season ready for a Europa League charge.
Mac Allister replacement
Teun Koopmeiners is a name that has been mentioned with a potential transfer to the Seagulls and midfielder Phil Billing has been looked at by Atalanta for a potential transfer and he has a similar profile to Koopmeiners, so could that be Atalanta lining up a replacement for the Dutch midfielder?
Koopmeiners is more of a goalscoring option than Either Mac Allister or Caicedo as in the Serie A he scored 10 goals from open play which is six more than Mac Allister and Caicedo managed together.
As well as this he can be a real creative force. He made 1.8 key passes per game in a side that doesn’t have all that much of the ball (averaging below 50% possession in the Serie A last season). However, the Dutchman has a 78% pass accuracy compared to Mac Allister who had an 87% pass accuracy last season most teams found it almost impossible to take the ball off Brighton.
Mac Allister also has better ball retention then the Koopmeiners making more tackles and having the same interceptions in a team which had less of the ball however despite this Koopmeiners will still be a more than adequate replacement for Mac Allister and with Mo Dahoud and Pascal Gross waiting in the wings Brighton can afford to take a risk on Koopmeiners as his attacking output is so strong and his defensive work is good enough for him to be a valuable asset to De Zerbi’s side.
Caicedo replacement
Brighton will still need a defensive ball-winning midfielder though to replace a world-class Moises Caicedo who has recently left for Chelsea and this is a thing incredibly hard to come by in world football at the moment. Players like Edson Alvarez from Ajax, Denis Zakaria and Tyler Adams are very good at winning the ball however aren’t good enough on the ball to replace Caicedo in De Zerbi’s system.
Then with most other players of similar levels being unattainable for Brighton due to wages, prices and being in a Champions League side already Brighton will need to get smart with their next signing.
Romeo Lavia would have been on Brighton’s wish list however he is close to agreeing a deal with Chelsea, he fits Brighton’s required profile to a tee, being physically mobile enough to cover ground, fantastic in the tackle and good on the ball.
Another potential signing is Robert Andrich. At 28 years old he wouldn’t quite be the long-term signing the Seagulls are looking for however would be a very capable and affordable signing for the next few years as Brighton search for a longer-term signing using their Moneyball system which led to them signing Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo themselves.
With a pass accuracy of 84%, almost 1.5 interceptions per game and around two tackles per game as well as being a player who always looks forward Andrich could be a very good stop-gap for Brighton.
Another option is Manuel Locatelli who has proven he can do it under De Zerbi before and his performances under the Italian tactician earnt him a 30 million euro move to Juventus. In a struggling Juventus side Locatelli had a high percentage of key passes as well putting up decent defensive numbers, all this meant he could revolutionise Brighton and their midfield.
At Sassuolo he performed a similar role that Caciedo played this year and after being a key player in Italy’s euros triumph has experience which could drag the Albion through some key Europa League games. The Italian made almost two tackles per game and almost one interception per game playing in a poor Juventus side that didn’t play to his strengths and at 25 years old he still has time to grow even more.
As well as this Brighton should be after a young player of a similar mould to Caicedo and Brighton have been heavily linked with Carlos Baleba who has remarkable stats averaging almost one tackle and one interception per game despite making 14 appearances off the bench and just five starts. The 19-year-old is also very press resistant which makes him ready made for De Zerbi's system.
Remaining midfielders
If Brighton were to sign Locatelli and Koopmeiners it would leave their midfield options as:
Manuel Locatelli
Teun Koopmeiners
Pascal Gross
Billy Gilmour
Adam Lallana
Mo Dahoud
James Milner
Jakub Moder
Steven Alzate
Carlos Baleba
With these midfield options, Brighton’s go-to midfield would most likely be Koopmeiners and Locatelli playing slightly deeper and behind Joao Pedro who will play in a more advanced role. Then Dahoud, Gross and Gilmour are the most used replacements for Locatelli and Koopmeiners as well as being good enough to start if either starter drops in form and with Alzate and Moder providing further depth as well as being able to play at full-back or on the wing if necessary and with the veteran Milner playing more of a bit part role. Then Lallana and Enciso will most likely play as backup to Pedro as well as playing out wide when required.
That is more than enough to mount a Europa League charge and help Brighton climb the table even more than they have done before.
Brighton will still have enough money to bring in some more firepower up front. Solly March is Brighton’s only right winger and so some of the remaining budget could be spent on a player like Cole Palmer. Brighton have been heavily linked with him and taking a player liked by Pep Guardiola could be a real statement signing for the Seagulls and he could take them to the next level.