Assessing the 2026/27 with Four Weeks until kick-off
It wasn't always like this. In our first season, I was just grateful to be there and when the big teams with the big budgets came, I marvelled at their superstars while the gulf in quality was there to see. Coutinho and Salah took us apart (1-5); Hazard and Willian played one-twos through the heart of our defence (0-4) and we drew 0-0 with Burnley - twice. It wasn't all bad though. We made ourselves difficult to beat at home - only losing four times at Falmer in that opening campaign. There were memorable wins against Arsenal and Manchester United and we got to that magic forty points which was comfortably safe.
So where are we at going into Season Ten? Progression or regression? We've finished 8th twice under Hurzeler - genuinely good finishes, but all Brighton fans know that, if we were our consistent best all season, we'd be much higher. And conversely, our place is still one of fragility. Leicester, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Stoke and Bolton have all managed a decade in the top flight and a poor managerial appointment, a dodgy transfer window or the injury of a critical player has sent them tumbling.
Let's assess the squad this time around.
Despite the sale of the best looking Dutchman I know, the defence looks like it has probably improved. There has been a long-running issue at right-back with various players played out of position there: Gross, Hinshelwood, Wieffer, but we've signed Costinha - a 26-year-old right-back who will hopefully, become the go-to player in that position. Ferdi Kadioglu deservedly won Player of the Season last year and he got better and better as the season progressed, so he will surely be left-back with De Cuyper deputising. There have been lots of suggestions that we might go to a back three with wing-backs which would accommodate one more of the centre-backs. Lewis Dunk still has plenty to offer. Olivier Boscagli was impressive when he came into the side at the back end of the season and then there's the three new boys: Luka Vuskovic, Pascal Struijk and Michael Svoboda. Vuskovic is the most exciting of these, a nineteen-year-old Croatian international who last year was in the Bundesliga Team of the Season, having been on loan at Hamburger SV. Many Tottenham fans were furious that they let him go, even for a club record outlay from the Albion of £46 million. As well as being a composed and powerful defender, he has also already scored sixteen goals in his professional career. It really feels like we've signed a superstar here. My reading of this signing is that we've upgraded on Van Hecke and made a profit at the same time. Struijk and Svoboda are less exciting perhaps, but both are players in their mid-twenties, in their prime, and Struijk has plenty of Premier League experience.
In central-midfield, it feels like there is a lingering question mark over whether Carlos Baleba will still be a Brighton player when the season kicks off. It felt like we all knew that Manchester United's wooing of him last summer was going to be delayed until this summer. Then, he had a somewhat underwhelming season, not always making the first team and now, United's interest seems to have cooled. This is good news if we can rewind Baleba back to the player he was. When he's good, he is such a dominant force, a player who has such supreme strength that opposition players seem to bounce off of him combined with composure and guile. I really believe that an in-form Baleba elevates us to a level where we can truly compete with the best teams in England. The other central midfielders all bring quality in different ways: Pascal Gross is intelligent, incisive but getting older; Yasin Ayari is tidy and has flashes of brilliance and Jack Hinshelwood has become an increasing goal-threat and if he can improve his conversion rate, he could have a really good season.
The wings feel like a bit of a concern. Mitoma is wonderful but returning from injury and that always seems to take far too long. Minteh is exciting but too often wasteful. Diego Gomez migrated onto the wing towards the end of last season and it feels like Hurzeler values his work-rate there, but it only feels like it partially works for him in that position. Coming in, we've got Zadok Yohanna - with European football, it feels like he needs to be ready to play this season. I've been long-excited about Amario Cozier-Duberry who has spent two seasons out on loan. I cling onto the first thing I read about a player and when he signed, I remember him being compared to Bukayo Saka, a winger who cuts in and likes a shot. He's been good in League One, but can he do that in the Prem? Tommy Watson and Ibrahim Osman are also in the mix, but less likely to be involved. It feels like there are lot of developing players on the wing with only Mitoma really ready and able to perform week-in, week-out and he's unlikely to be ready for the start.
Up front, we have very similar concerns if Danny Welbeck goes to Chelsea. Oh, Danny, not you. You're one of the good guys, not a mercenary want-away. Whenever a player leaves, we concoct a narrative that means we either clap them or boo them on their return. I actually feel that we swallow a load of guff and don't see any nuance when a player goes. I personally remain warm to almost all players that have served us well and then move on, but players going to Chelsea hurts (other than when they pay us big money for players surplus to requirements). Danny is definitely not surplus - he feels vital. If he goes, we look at the list of Tzimas, Kostoulas, Ferguson, Georginio, but we've not seen evidence recently that any of them are going to provide the goals that Welbeck did. Will there will be a glorious return to form for Ferguson? Every Albion fan wants that, but four goals in 37 appearances over the last two years makes that feel unlikely. Perhaps, we'll dip into the transfer market. Here are a few names that could move south: Tammy Abraham, Dane Scarlett, Marc Guiu, Joshua Zirkzee, Eddie Nketiah, Liam Delap, Gabriel Jesus - but if we do sign someone, it is far more likely that it will be someone who I've never heard of but has poked his head above the parapet on Tony's data.
Overall, I feel we are stronger defensively, but there will be a need for a regular back-line to settle and get to know one another. Baleba could set the tempo and turn us into a force and I for one have "seen his face and I'm a Baleb-er". We need to hope that the wingers emerge and give us a genuine threat and up front, in the limbo-land of the likely Welbeck departure, there is a mini-crisis. A firing Welbeck is ten points and that needs replacing if he goes. Depth for a European tour is emerging and is reliant upon the fringe players stepping up when required. I haven't mentioned O'Riley, Buonanotte, Yalcouye, Igor or Cashin - some of them will leave permanently or temporarily, but they may have a part to play.
One thing's for sure. We're not scrapping for results like we did in Season One. We're a genuine force and I approach the upcoming season with a quiet optimism. We'll probably finish 8th again.
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