One of the biggest storylines in global football the previous season was Brighton’s qualification for the Europa League. This season, a 4-1 overall defeat to Roma in the Europa Round of 16 and subpar Premier League results in 2024 have brought the South Coast team back to earth.
In the Premier League right now, the Seagulls are ranked eighth. Though it seems unlikely, there is yet hope for them to make it to the Europa League this year.
With some wise additions to their present team, Brighton can return to the summit the following season. If Brighton wants to compete for European football next season, they have to make the most progress in these three areas.
Right back
Why Brighton need to sign a right back
Brighton’s only true right backs coming into the 2023/24 Premier League season were Joël Veltman and Tariq Lamptey. Given Lamptey’s injury history, and the fact that Roberto De Zerbi seemingly doesn’t think Veltman can play in his system, Seagulls fans expected Brighton to invest big on a right back last summer. Unfortunately, the club stood pat.
Veltman and Lamptey are still the club’s only true right backs. Both have missed significant chunks of the season with injury, which doesn’t bode well for what they can bring next season.
Pascal Groß, academy graduate Jack Hinshelwood, and even center back Adam Webster have deputized at right back this season. None of these options are optimal against top sides. Using Groß in defense is especially bad since it sacrifices his attacking contributions.
Brighton could use a three-at-the-back next season with a midfielder or winger playing as a right wing back. This would alleviate Brighton’s right back problem, but would probably mean they’d need another center back.
The fact that the Seagulls have struggled this season when using a 3-4-2-1 strategy presents another issue with this strategy. You shouldn’t expect Brighton to use it again the following year.
Brighton needs to get a right back so that De Zerbi can resume making the most of his team by more often employing his preferred 4-2-3-1 configuration.
Brighton should sign the top right back in 2024.
Juanlu Sánchez of Sevilla is the most recent right back to be featured in Brighton transfer rumors. The 20-year-old is currently one of Europe’s top right back prospects after making his debut for Sevilla’s first squad this year.
Compared to Brighton’s usual starting fullbacks, Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupiñán, he is more of an all-around defender. In comparison to other fullbacks in the top five leagues in Europe, FBREF indicates that Juanlu is in the 99th percentile for tackles and the 96th percentile for blocks.
Juanlu is also in the 94th and 90th percentiles for advanced carries and assists, respectively. There’s no reason to doubt that he could play more offensively in De Zerbi’s attacking system because he was an attacking midfielder at the Sevilla academy.
Juanlu is a reasonably priced transfer target for the Seagulls, as he has a £20 million release clause.
midfielder who plays defense
The reason Brighton should sign a defensive midfield player
In De Zerbi’s first season with the team, Brighton had Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister in the midfield. Versatile and imaginative with the ball, Mac Allister was a strong defensive midfielder. Caicedo appeared to be a legitimate elite player under De Zerbi’s framework. This season, their replacements have not performed even remotely at the same level.
Although Billy Gilmour is not as good defensively as Mac Allister, he is still a reliable midfielder and ball advancer. Jack Hinshelwood and Carlos Baleba are undeveloped talents who require more time to mature. After failing, Mahmoud Dahoud has already returned to Germany. For next season, Lallana and Milner are too old to be relied upon. Although Pascal Groß is among the greatest players in Brighton’s history, he performs better at number ten than number six. Although Jan Paul Van Hecke has recently played as a defensive midfielder, nobody believes that is a long-term solution.
Having a strong defensive midfield tandem has been a defining characteristic of Brighton’s previous Premier League success, whether it was Yves Bissouma and Pascal Gross under Graham Potter or Caicedo and Mac Allister under De Zerbi. There is currently a severe lack of this side. Brighton will struggle to requalify for European football the next season without one.
Brighton’s best option for a defensive midfielder in 2024
According to Roberto De Zerbi, midfielders are the hardest positions in his system for players to master, and they are also difficult to come by at a low cost. Having said that, Brighton ought to sign Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall this summer.
Although Dewsbury-Hall isn’t a classic defensive midfielder, he might fill the same role as Brighton’s Mac Allister as a holding midfielder. Dewsbury-Hall is excellent at controlling the tempo and retaining possession for his team, as demonstrated in Leicester’s most recent FA Cup encounter against Chelsea. This level of press resistance is a need for any De Zerbi side.
A reported £30 million bid for Dewsbury-Hall was rejected by Leicester during the January transfer window. The Foxes may be more inclined to sell Dewsbury-Hall this summer since they will have to sell players regardless of whether they play well this season due to impending Profit and Sustainability violations.
Brighton should target Enzo Barrenechea, Enzo Le Fée, and Ezequiel Fernández, a midfielder for Boca Juniors, this summer if Dewsbury-Hall proves to be untenable for the Seagulls.
Since De Zerbi acquired Brighton for the 2018–19 season, winger Kaoru Mitoma has emerged as one of the top players in the Premier League. Under the Italian, Solly March, a right winger for the Seagulls, has also shown remarkable growth. Regretfully, they are essentially Brighton’s only elite wingers at the moment.
Without Mitoma, Brighton’s attack has looked very one dimensional. AFCON Champion Simon Adingra has done a good job deputizing for March on the right wing, but he’s very inconsistent and regularly disappears from matches. Adingra disappearing has especially been the case when Mitoma has been out injured.
Julio Enciso, João Pedro, and Facundo Buonanotte all can play out wide, but prefer to play centrally. Jeremy Sarmiento, who is currently out on loan with Ipswich Town, can play on either wing, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be ready to be a regular Premier League contributor next season.
Ibrahim Osman, who the club have already agreed to sign from FC Nordsjaelland, could be just the player Brighton need, but the club will still need more depth out wide with Ansu Fati guaranteed to leave the club this summer.
Brighton really needs reinforcements, but they don’t have to go all out and find someone to take Mitoma’s and/or March’s place this summer. The Seagulls may have problems the next season if they don’t buy a strong winger this summer.
The ideal winger Brighton should get in 2024
Depending on who they sell this summer, Brighton should sign a different winger. Brighton should recruit Juventus’ Samuel Iling-Junior if they are able to retain Mitoma and their current attackers.
Iling-Junior is an English player that can play both left and right wing and is only 20 years old. He has a ton of promise. Additionally, the Seagulls may be able to get a great deal on him because he just has one year left on his contract.
Additionally, If Brighton sign Iling-Junior and keep their current players, they would be able to bed him in slowly, which has been Brighton’s transfer strategy when signing young players in the past.
