Brighton qualifying for the Europa League was one of the best stories in world football last season. A 4-1 aggregate loss to Roma in the Europa Round of 16 and poor Premier League performances in 2024 have brought the South Coast club crashing back down to earth this season.
The Seagulls are currently 8th in the Premier League. They likely won’t qualify for Europa League again this year, but hope is not all lost.
Brighton can get back to the mountaintop again next season with some smart investments into their current squad. Here are the three positions Brighton need to improve the most if they are going to be in the race for European football next season.
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.
Another problem with this plan is that playing a 3-4-2-1 tactic has been a disaster for the Seagulls this season. Counting on Brighton using it again next year should be out of the question.
Brighton need to sign a right back so De Zerbi can get back to getting the most out of his squad by using his favored 4-2-3-1 formation more consistently.
The best right back for Brighton to sign in 2024
Sevilla’s Juanlu Sánchez is the latest right back mentioned in the Brighton transfer news circles. The 20-year-old broke into Sevilla’s first team this year, and is now one of the best right back prospects in Europe.
He is more of an out-and-out defender compared to Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupiñán, Brighton’s typical starting fullbacks. According to FBREF, Juanlu is in the 99th percentile for tackles and 96th percentile for blocks, compared to other fullbacks in Europe’s top five leagues.
Juanlu is also in the 90th percentile for assists and 94th for progressive carries. He also came through Sevilla’s academy as an attacking midfielder, so there’s little reason to doubt he would be able to play more offensively in De Zerbi’s attacking system.
Juanlu has a £20 million release clause, so he’s also a relatively affordable transfer target for the Seagulls.
Defensive midfielder
Why Brighton need to sign a defensive midfielder
Brighton in De Zerbi’s first season at the club last year featured a midfield duo of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo. Mac Allister was a versatile midfielder who was defensively solid and creative on the ball. Caicedo looked like a genuine world class player in De Zerbi’s system. Their replacements this season have not reached anywhere near close to the same level.
Billy Gilmour is a consistently solid midfielder and ball progressor, but lacks the defensive ability of Mac Allister. Carlos Baleba and Jack Hinshelwood are raw talents who need more time to develop. Mahmoud Dahoud flopped and is already back in Germany. Lallana and Milner are too old to rely on next season. Pascal Groß is one of the best players in Brighton history, but he’s better as a No. 10 than a No. 6. Jan Paul Van Hecke has played as a defensive midfielder recently, but no one thinks that’s a long term option.
Whether it was Yves Bissouma and Pascal Gross under Graham Potter or Caicedo and Mac Allister under De Zerbi, Brighton’s recent Premier League success has been defined by having a dominant defensive midfield duo. This current side is missing that badly right now. Without one next season, Brighton will struggle qualifying for European football again.
The best defensive midfielder for Brighton to sign in 2024
Roberto De Zerbi says midfielder is the toughest position in his system for a player to learn, and game changing midfielders are hard to find for cheap. With that being said, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a player Brighton should sign this summer.
Dewsbury-Hall is not a defensive midfielder in the traditional sense, but he could easily play a holding midfielder role similar to the one Mac Allister played with Brighton. As we saw in Leicester’s recent FA Cup match against Chelsea Dewsbury-Hall is great at maintaining possession and dictating tempo for his side. Being this kind of press resistant is an absolute must in any De Zerbi side.
Leicester reportedly turned down a £30 million offer for Dewsbury-Hall in the January transfer window. With Profit and Sustainability violations looming over them, the Foxes will have to sell players whether they go up or not this season, so they may be more willing to sell Dewsbury-Hall this summer.
Enzo Barrenechea, Enzo Le Fée, and Boca Juniors’ midfielder Ezequiel Fernández are also names who Brighton should target this summer if Dewsbury-Hall is unattainable for the Seagulls.
Winger
Kaoru Mitoma has been one of the best players in the Premier League since De Zerbi took over Brighton last season. Solly March on the right wing for the Seagulls has similarly been a revelation under the Italian. Unfortunately, they are about the only high quality wingers on this current Brighton side.
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 don’t need to swing big and find someone to replace Mitoma and/or March this summer, but reinforcements are desperately needed. If the Seagulls don’t sign a quality winger this summer, they could be in trouble again next season.
The best winger for Brighton to sign in 2024
Who Brighton should sign at winger depends on who they sell this summer. If they can keep Mitoma and the other attackers currently have, Brighton should sign Samuel Iling-Junior from Juventus.
Iling-Junior is just 20 years old, is English, can play both on the right and left wing, and has buckets of potential. He also has just one year left on his contract, meaning he could be a bargain buy for the Seagulls.
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.
