Brighton and Hove Albion are set for a hugely unpredictable and exciting eighth season of Premier League football after a summer of change in Sussex.
Out have gone Roberto de Zerbi, the Italian’s backroom staff and other figures like set-piece coach Nick Stanley, while amongst the playing staff, Pascal Groß has left behind a tremendous legacy after ending his seven-year stay.
With Fabian Hürzeler the club’s surprise choice as manager and a small group of staff brought in alongside the young German, the Seagulls have kept quiet about their ambitions in pre-season.
Outside of the media spotlight, though, there is huge potential at The Amex. The VAVEL team took on the task of exploring this, from transfer moves and tactical shifts to all other points of discussion, in the ever-reliable season preview.
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Season recap
The 2023-24 season was one of two halves for Brighton, with huge optimism and enjoyment in the first and ever-increasing issues in the second.
De Zerbi enjoyed complete trust as the club embarked on its first-ever European campaign thanks to his fabulous work in the 2022-23 season, and some big-name transfers were made in the form of Ansu Fati, Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner.
After a late-September wobble, losing on their Europa League debut to AEK Athens and being trounced 6-1 by Aston Villa, Brighton returned to form and topped their continental group by beating Marseille in a glorious final round of matches.
Injuries mounted after Christmas, however, and results fluctuated hugely as de Zerbi riled at not having carte blanche in the January transfer window to source reinforcements.
Owner Tony Bloom stuck to his guns at the expense of short-term gains, and the fissures were clear for all to see as a weakened side exited the FA Cup, and a week later the Europa League adventure was all but over with a Round of 16 first-leg thumping at the hands of Roma.
The season ended with a whimper, winning just three of the final 16 games in all competitions, only scoring one goal in April – a comical Arijanet Muric own goal – and knowing that de Zerbi was finished before a meek 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on the final day.
It left plenty to be resolved in the summer of 2024.
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The transfer window so far
Wasting no time in ending their relationship with de Zerbi, Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber set about first finding a manager to steer the Brighton ship.
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna was their much-publicised target, but when the Northern Irishman opted to commit to another season at Portman Road, sights had to turn elsewhere.
Ending almost a month of speculation, the decision was finally announced on 15 June that Fabian Hürzeler would be the club’s new face.
Few had heard of the 31-year-old, but it was hardly unlike Brighton to spring a surprise and uncover prodigious talent. They have, after all, made a hugely successful business model out of this niche in recent years.
Hürzeler set about working with technical director David Weir on the incoming transfers, as well as managing a significant number of outgoings.
On contract release day, 30 June, the club allowed Steven Alzate to join Adam Lallana out of the door.
In the other direction came Yankuba Minteh, who had been tracked by the club and quickly became available when Newcastle United had to sell to meet profit and sustainability targets.
Announced under the cover of midnight, a record-breaking £30 million deal for the club went by almost without fanfare.
More positive moves followed, with the Seagulls attacking the market to take Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord, Malick Yalcouyé from IFK Göteborg and Amario Cozier-Duberry from Arsenal.
Going the other way after much speculation were Groß, fellow German international Deniz Undav, the lesser-spotted Kacper Kozłowski, and Facundo Buonanotte on loan to Leicester City.
Rumours persist about Brajan Gruda, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Matt O’Riley and Diego Gómez joining, as well as Billy Gilmour, Igor Julio, Jakub Moder and Dahoud leaving, so the club are likely to be busy up until deadline day.
Verbruggen; Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Estupiñán; Wieffer; Minteh, Baleba, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck
Goalkeeper
In goal, Bart Verbruggen will be expected to play the majority of matches this season after a year of rotation under de Zerbi.
The Dutchman solidified his position with some tremendous performances for the Netherlands at Euro 2024, and while Jason Steele has the chance to impress during Verbruggen’s spell out in August, the youngster should take full possession between the sticks going forward.
Defenders
Lewis Dunk will form the heart of Hürzeler’s side as captain, lynchpin and defensive ball player, while his excellent partnership with Jan Paul van Hecke will be expected to continue.
At full-back, Pervis Estupiñán is a great fit for Hürzeler’s system once he returns to full fitness, while the versatile Kadıoğlu is being eyed up on the right. Joël Veltman has, however, been solid in pre-season.
Midfielders
A highly attacking system in pre-season has seen the Seagulls adopt a 4-1-4-1 formation, and in this system, Wieffer is expected to be the man sitting deep, with Milner as his understudy.
The four attacking players should be Kaoru Mitoma on the left, Minteh on the right, and then a combination of a forward and midfielder – such as João Pedro and Carlos Baleba – in the middle. There is a huge amount of depth in these positions, though, so expect rotation here.
Forwards
Up front, Danny Welbeck has dazzled in pre-season and is the perfect foil for the attacking talents around him.
Evan Ferguson will also be pushing hard for a start when he returns to fitness, and Mark O’Mahony looks a great talent from the bench.
Written by Louis Selling
Hürzeler had an unusual path to elite management after deciding to end his playing career early and assume the manager’s role at amateur side FC Pipinsried.
His work at Pipinsried helped him progress to become the assistant manager of Germany’s under-18 and under-20 sides, before securing the assistant manager’s role at FC St Pauli; a club that had severely underachieved in recent years.
This all changed on 6 December 2022 when Hürzeler was promoted to interim manager and quickly brought Bundesliga football to the Millerntor-Stadion after securing promotion in May 2024.
The interesting thing about Hürzeler is that he was born in Houston, Texas but grew up in Germany from the age of two.
His cool and quirky mixture of nationalities is reflected through his tactics, which ultimately convinced Bloom to appoint the German.
Initially, the team is set up in a 3-4-3 system, but when in possession the wing-backs and centre-backs create a back four with a single pivot.
However, the middle centre-back – the 'libero' in Football Manager terms – steps forward to become that pivot while the wing-backs stay as wide and high as possible to attack the space.
The second phase of play is where it gets interesting, as the two supposed double-pivot midfielders take up false ten positions and stay in the blind spots of the opposition’s midfielders.
These two midfielders will then move into the free spaces (including the wing) away from the opposition’s holding midfielder, making them impossible to mark.
This movement drags one of the centre-backs out, creating an overload in the zonal theory’s ‘zone 14’. This leads to goalscoring opportunities being created, or so Brighton will hope this season.
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Is there enough experience?
On the balance of their 11th, 6th and 9th place finishes in the last three Premier League seasons, initial predictions from some outlets that Brighton will slump to a spot around 15th seem ridiculously knee-jerk.
Just as certain quarters of the media had their fears about de Zerbi’s apparent inability to communicate with players, now they fret about Hürzeler’s relative youth.
While Brighton’s players should be mature and professional enough to disregard their manager’s age when following his instructions, the real concern will be about leaders on the pitch.
Dunk is developing more injury problems as he reaches 32 years of age, new vice-captain Milner will not play every minute at the age of 38 and there are only a handful of other starters over the age of 25; Estupiñán, Veltman, Mitoma, Welbeck, and the injured Solly March.
When these players are not on the pitch, Hürzeler will be tasked with guiding a talented but inexperienced group through several games.
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Will injuries be a stumbling block?
At one point last season, Brighton ended up having a more talented XI on the treatment table than on the pitch.
De Zerbi made his feelings known about this, but ultimately, the club was a victim of its success as the squad could not deal with the fitness demands of playing constant matches in autumn.
This season, there will be no midweek games until December, which should help the squad significantly.
The nature of some injuries will need to be tested, with Tariq Lamptey’s hamstrings permanently a nanosecond away from tearing, the durability of March’s knee completely unknown after a year out, and Estupiñán and Julio Enciso returning from repeated issues last year.
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Can they make a cup run?
If another run to the European places seems a stretch too far this season, Brighton fans will be desperate to see the team make a strong run in either the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.
The Seagulls reached Wembley for the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup in the 2018-19 and 2022-23 seasons, but have had a historically poor record in the League Cup, only reaching the Quarter-Finals once, in 1978-79.
With depth in most positions this season, the omens look good for a stronger performance across all competitions in 2024-25.
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Expected finish – 8th
Written by Ethan Howick
Brighton are gearing up for a season of redemption after a disappointing end to their 2023/24 campaign.
Due to the poor end of the last campaign, with just 18 points from their last 19 matches, many critics have predicted another challenging season for the Seagulls.
Multiple media outlets have predicted lower finishes for them than they have been used to in recent seasons. A few even predicted them to be entangled in a relegation battle.
But are the Albion entering the 2024-25 Premier League campaign under everyone’s radars? Are they being underestimated?
Key players like Mitoma, Pedro, and Enciso are returning from injury, bringing back the attacking flair that made Brighton so dangerous.
On top of this, the appointment of Hürzeler injects fresh ideas and optimism, as shown by their unbeaten pre-season campaign, which included a convincing 4-0 win over Villarreal.
Owner Tony Bloom has made his ambition clear, expressing a desire to see Brighton back in Europe.
He has backed this ambition with significant investment in the squad, in particular in the form of Minteh, who will be looking to carry his good pre-season form into 2024-25 and is certainly one to watch.
Hürzeler’s confidence that Brighton have "no ceiling" as a club suggests a belief that they can exceed expectations.
With greater squad depth and a rejuvenated team, and rumours of more signings still to come, Brighton are well-positioned to push for a top-10 finish, and potentially even challenge for European spots once again.
The Seagulls should certainly not be overlooked this season.
