[Albion] All the players who left in the GP era - how did it go?

[Acker79]

I think it I got to Maty Ryan before realising this wasn't about Gus Poyet's tenure. #badfanIguess

 

[Badger Boy]

I think it I got to Maty Ryan before realising this wasn't about Gus Poyet's tenure. #badfanIguess

I hear you, GP will always mean Gus to me. Potter is Potter.

 

[Klaas]

Was really confused reading this until I realised you didn't mean Gus Poyet!

 

[Klaas]

Oh, just read the replies above mine. Seems I'm not unique.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Massive shame about Jose Izquierdo, what a great player he was. If he's injury-free I'm surprised he isn't playing somewhere.

He's living rent free in West Ham fan's tiny brains.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Massive shame about Jose Izquierdo, what a great player he was. If he's injury-free I'm surprised he isn't playing somewhere.

So sad

 

[beorhthelm]

bit of a theme that for so many players Brighton is their career peak. i'm not sure this is good.

 

[schmunk]

bit of a theme that for so many players Brighton is their career peak. i'm not sure this is good.

As the saying goes "To make an omelette, you have to break a lot of eggs".

 

[Rugrat]

Very good write up thanks. A few giggles, particularly the Worthing comment

 

[Swansman]

Massive shame about Jose Izquierdo, what a great player he was. If he's injury-free I'm surprised he isn't playing somewhere.

His own decision mainly I think. He's injury free but not pain-free and most likely won't be.

In South America, a lot of players are aware of Batistutas situation: played with injury issues for years on painkillers, and now can barely walk and much less play football with his kids etc. Players know that and turn careful - might not feel its worth to play in maybe the Colombian league for £50k a year if they can't live normally afterwards.

bit of a theme that for so many players Brighton is their career peak. i'm not sure this is good.

Will always be the reality of every PL club

 

[Frankworthington]

Well, almost all. There's some obscure youngsters I've ignored but if you want info of them you'll have to get AZ Gull back in action.

2019/20
Jordan Araujo - playing for FC Buffalo in the US. Not a professional club I think.

Ben Barclay - went to Accrington Stanley (who?) and while not really a starter he still played 30+ games for them during two seasons. Simon Rusk then brought him to Stockport where he's had limited game time and he is now on a not particularly successful loan in Carlisle.

Tareq Shihab - appears he first decided to retire from football after being let go, but had a change of hearts and joined a yankee club a year later. Recently played for Whitehawk and Newhaven before moving to IF Grotta on Iceland a month ago, so I assume he's actually a pro footballer since that is generally the case with foreign players in the Icelandic league.

Soufyan Ahannach - moved to Go Ahead Eagles where he didn't really make it but then moved on to FC Den Bosch, had a good 18 months and moved to Al-Arabi in Saudi Arabia (though now on loan at Al-Rawdhah). Was interviewed a year ago or so about Brighton being successful in England and spoke very highly about the club.

Gaetan Bong - left Brighton for Nottingham, where we was... not good, but still got a lot of praise for being a model professional. Clubless since last summer and with reports saying he might become a football agent, its quite possible he is done playing.

James Tilley - been around quite a bit since leaving Brighton but now appears to be a key player for Crawley in League Two.

Anders Dreyer - has improved for each season and in January he made the move from Midtjylland in his home country Denmark to Anderlecht (recently taken over by Danish people) where he has had a great start, scoring three goals in six appearances. Two caps for Denmark so far and likely will be more to come.

Tomer Hemed - after a poor stint in Charlton he moved to New Zeeland and played for Wellington in the Australian league (ees complicated) before moving to Western Sydney Wanderers where he spent a year. Now back in Israel playing for Hapoel Be'er Sheva which is a top team these days.

Markus Suttner - played for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Austria Wien until last year when he decided to step down some levels, joining amateur side SK Wullersdorf.

Piotr Zalewski - clubless for a few years now, have to assume he's retired.

Matthew Weaire - playing for Cray Wanderers after recently playing for Lewes.

Richie Towell - despite being Irish, Towell did not turn out to be world class and after a couple of alright years in Salford he's now back in Ireland playing for Shamrock Rovers where you have to assume he is a key player.

Joe Tomlinson - after a couple of years in Hungerford and Eastleigh he got picked up by Peterborough. Now on his second loan spell in Swindon where the ambition seems to be to sign him up after the season.

Ales Mateju - playing with Palermo in Serie B having previously played for Brescia in the Italian top division and Venezia in Serie B. Usually in Palermos starting eleven so seems to be doing fine in Sicily.

Stefan Ljubicic - been around mainly in his home country Iceland and is now playing for KR Reykjavik

Ben Hall - playing for Linfield in Northern Ireland

Bruno - in case you've missed it, he is now a coach at Chelsea.

Will Collar - the 26-year-old really found success after joining Stockport where he is a key player scoring lots of goals in League Two. Bit of a late bloomer but pretty sure we'll see him in League One or Championship in the not too distant future.

Antony Knockaert - has struggled since leaving Brighton and is currently playing on loan in a completely hopeless Huddersfield in the Championship.

2020/21
Luca Cocoracchio - playing for Worthing which is allegedly pretty much like living in Bahamas.

Archie Davies - after a few years in the English lower divisions, he is now with Dundalk from Ireland.

Jordan Davies - probably one of the most well-known non-league footballers as he's playing for Wrexham.

Lewis Freestone - playing for Cheltenham where he appears to be playing pretty much all the time.

Hugo Keto - the Finnish goalie moved back to Finland where he played for giants HJK for a year or two before moving to Norway and Sandefjord last season. Played 10 games allowing in 24 goals before getting benched.

Kacper Lopata - had injury problems but then finally found a somewhat important role in Southend, before leaving a few weeks ago after not getting paid for a while.

Bojan Radulovic - moved to Sweden and AIK where he got limited game time. He has some qualities but AIK is a top team and he's not really at that level. AIK moved him on to Finnish giants HJK where he is not always starting but a good backup striker who scores a fair amount of goals.

George Cox - has spent the last few seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie playing for Fortuna Sittard where he is arguably one of the best players.

Ezequiel Schelotto - has not really done much useful after his Brighton years and is now in Argentina where he seems to be playing or belonging to a club (fittingly?) named Deportivo Moron. I think he can be considered semi-retired. Realistically speaking he is now running a squirrel farm or something.

Beram Kayal - returned home to Israel to join newly promoted Bnei Sakhnin, now a solid mid-table team where he is playing week out week in.

Martin Montoya - left for Real Betis where he has played a couple of games per season which is more than enough, judging from the comments I've seen from Betis fans.

Aaron Mooy - after a short, hard-to-remember tenure in Brighton, he moved on to become a very slow, very bald playmaker in China before moving to Celtic last year where he is currently operating as a very slow, very bald playmaker. Seems to be doing a good job there and also had a good World Cup.

David Button - moved to WBA and has played occasionally. Their fans doesn't like him, but then again they don't like anyone. He's been quite shit most times I've seen him in the Championship.

Dale Stephens - got his beloved move to Burnley where he was injured and drunk for two years. Clubless since his contract ended with Burnley and you sort of have to assume there is some off-the-pitch thing keeping him out of football since he is a very proven and solid midfielder.

Warren O'Hora - nowadays a key player (with around 100 appearances under his belt) for The Milton Keynes-based Entity Previously Known as Wimbledon FC. Appears to be doing quite well in League One, so you'd imagine a call-up from Ireland can't be far away.

Glenn Murray - finished his career with doing pretty much nothing in Nottingham. Said when he retired that he might go into coaching in a few years but currently he is doing punditry somewhere, if I understand it correctly.

Max Sanders - in and out, most frequently out, of the Lincoln City side he joined in 2021. More game time this season than previously though, and the fans seems to like him more than his managers have so far.

2021/22
Davy Pröpper - moved home to the Netherlands to play for PSV but retired early, saying he was fed up with football. Some time later, Philip Cocu wanted him to make comeback for his childhood club Vitesse (struggling on and off the pitch), and he decided to do so, only to tear his ACL in the comeback about a month ago. Imagine that is it for him.

Danny Cashman - sold to Coventry where he's been on loan at three shite clubs, doing nothing for any of them and now struggling to get game time in the National League where he is on loan in Altrincham.

Peter Gwargis - moved back to Sweden and giants Malmö FF but didn't quite cut it. Was then loaned to his old club Jönköping where he had a brilliant start before tearing off his ACL. Back in action now, with Degerfors buying him from Malmö a couple of weeks ago.

Jose Izquierdo - signed a one year contract with Club Brugge after leaving Brighton. Barely played any football there and has been without a club since the summer. Injury free now but can't play without pain in his knee and is thinking about retiring.

Kipras Kazukolovas - Young mr Kipras appears to be doing just fine in the absolutely horseshit Lithuanian league.

Roco Rees - the goalie went to Brentfords B team which he is likely to leave in the summer.

Stefan Vukoje - substitute in a shite Serbian team.

Jan Mlakar - moved to big Croatian club Hajduk Split where he was considered quite a big signing. Did not live up to expectations in his first season and doing similar numbers now, with 8 goals in 27 games so far this season. Still only 24 years old and with allegedly a hefty sell-on fee, so lets hope he breaks through.

Bernardo - something of a utility player in the RB Salzburg defense. Has struggled a bit with injuries.

Romaric Yapi - squad player for Vitesse in the Eredivisie.

Viktor Gyökeres - scoring for fun in Coventry and also getting more and more call-ups to the Swedish national team. Lots of rumours about a PL move but apparently Coventry told him in December that he would not be sold for any price, a decision he respected and kept quiet about as he didn't want to cause any chaos. Assume he'll be in the PL next year.

Maty Ryan - Left Brighton for Real Sociedad where he was a little bit shit and got shipped to Copenhagen, where he was also a little bit shit (and ended up having a several months long verbal feud with the other goalie) before signing with AZ in Holland in January, where he is the undisputed starter. He's done well so far if I understand it right, and they are challenging for the Eredivisie title.

Ali Jahanbakhsh - usually looking angry on the Feyenoord bench. One of their biggest earners but not performing anywhere near that level.

Ben White - the weird and brilliant young man is doing quite well for Arsenal.

Percy Tau - earning a lot of money doing very little for Al Ahly. Usually either injured or not producing many goals or assists. I think this bloke was probably not very good.

Jurgen Locadia - first moved to Persepolis, where he did nothing, and then quite randomly moved to Iran and Persepolis, playing at the 80k stadium and scoring a bunch of goals. He then tweeted some supportive stuff about the Iranian protests and was told by the Dutch government to get the f*** out of there and is now without a club although there were rumours of several Dutch clubs, Blackburn and Barcelona (!) in the January window. He'll be back somewhere.

Christian Walton - Ipswich are pretending that they'll get a promotion and have done so well so far. Christian Walton is the main-goalie-man. I can't bother to find out if he's done well or not, I'll leave that to you.

Gary Dicker - retired and turned into a coach for the Brighton U18. Assume he is either there or in London now.

Ryan Longman - only 22 and getting a lot of game time for Hull, participating in nearly every game this season as a sub or starter.

Dan Burn - Dan Burn is God. God is kidnapped by oil though. But we still like him.

Billy Arce - first played a bit for Penarol in the Uruguayan league before joining Colombians Deportivo Pasto in January.

Jayson Molumby - getting a lot of game time in West Bromwich but all the talk surrounding him a few years ago turned out to be just... talk. Bang average Championship midfielder - not a bad thing, but probably not what he and others had hoped for. Still often called up for Ireland.

2022/23
Yves Bissouma - been very meh for Tottenham so far, could be argued it is a very difficult club to excel in as a central midfielder since they don't really use their midfield.

Alex Cochrane - went to Heart in Scotland where he is doing well and playing every week. Might escape from this plucky league before you know it.

Tudor Baluta - the Romanian legend is a key player in the Farul side currently leading the Romanian top division. Seems to have recovered from injury and existence doubts.

Lars Dendoncker - his contract with Brighton ended and he was about to sign for a new club, but during the medical a serious heart condition was found and he is now contemplating on whether to retire or not.

Ulrick Eneme Ella - moved to Angers in France but injured himself shortly after joining the club and hasn't been seen since.

Leo Östigård - wanted to play more football... which he isn't - just a backup. Understandable though as his Napoli might be the best team in the world.

Zak Sturge - moved to Chelsea and is playing regularly in the Chelsea U21 team.

Marc Cucurella - playing relatively much at Chelsea, without being particularly successful.

Matt Clarke - moved to Middlesbrough where he started the first six games before getting a back injury which has kept him out ever since. Seems like a complicated injury but hopefully he is back soon.

Neal Maupay - maupaying around in Everton.

Florin Andone - happily moved to Las Palmas and the Canary Islands where he is generally warming the bench with a cameo here and there. They are on their way up to La Liga and you'd assume they're not keeping Andone around if they get there. Or if they dont.

Zak Emmerson - despite a promising year last season, Emmerson felt homesick and was sold to Blackpool, where he is yet to make his debut for the first team.

Great post
I loved the Worthing and The Bahamas comment!

 

[giveusfalmerplease]

bit of a theme that for so many players Brighton is their career peak. i'm not sure this is good.

To be fair only Ben White and Biss on that listed WANTED to leave ( think Cuca was simply made an offer he couldn't refuse), the rest weren't deemed good enough for Brighton so sort of makes sense that they peaked. Really pleased for Gyrokes at Coventry. He only played a few games for us, looked like his physicality was his downfall but now he's gained some muscle going well. I too wouldn't be surprised if we see him back for us, maybe even next year..

 

[Ali_rrr]

Well, almost all. There's some obscure youngsters I've ignored but if you want info of them you'll have to get AZ Gull back in action.

2019/20
Jordan Araujo - playing for FC Buffalo in the US. Not a professional club I think.

Ben Barclay - went to Accrington Stanley (who?) and while not really a starter he still played 30+ games for them during two seasons. Simon Rusk then brought him to Stockport where he's had limited game time and he is now on a not particularly successful loan in Carlisle.

Tareq Shihab - appears he first decided to retire from football after being let go, but had a change of hearts and joined a yankee club a year later. Recently played for Whitehawk and Newhaven before moving to IF Grotta on Iceland a month ago, so I assume he's actually a pro footballer since that is generally the case with foreign players in the Icelandic league.

Soufyan Ahannach - moved to Go Ahead Eagles where he didn't really make it but then moved on to FC Den Bosch, had a good 18 months and moved to Al-Arabi in Saudi Arabia (though now on loan at Al-Rawdhah). Was interviewed a year ago or so about Brighton being successful in England and spoke very highly about the club.

Gaetan Bong - left Brighton for Nottingham, where we was... not good, but still got a lot of praise for being a model professional. Clubless since last summer and with reports saying he might become a football agent, its quite possible he is done playing.

James Tilley - been around quite a bit since leaving Brighton but now appears to be a key player for Crawley in League Two.

Anders Dreyer - has improved for each season and in January he made the move from Midtjylland in his home country Denmark to Anderlecht (recently taken over by Danish people) where he has had a great start, scoring three goals in six appearances. Two caps for Denmark so far and likely will be more to come.

Tomer Hemed - after a poor stint in Charlton he moved to New Zeeland and played for Wellington in the Australian league (ees complicated) before moving to Western Sydney Wanderers where he spent a year. Now back in Israel playing for Hapoel Be'er Sheva which is a top team these days.

Markus Suttner - played for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Austria Wien until last year when he decided to step down some levels, joining amateur side SK Wullersdorf.

Piotr Zalewski - clubless for a few years now, have to assume he's retired.

Matthew Weaire - playing for Cray Wanderers after recently playing for Lewes.

Richie Towell - despite being Irish, Towell did not turn out to be world class and after a couple of alright years in Salford he's now back in Ireland playing for Shamrock Rovers where you have to assume he is a key player.

Joe Tomlinson - after a couple of years in Hungerford and Eastleigh he got picked up by Peterborough. Now on his second loan spell in Swindon where the ambition seems to be to sign him up after the season.

Ales Mateju - playing with Palermo in Serie B having previously played for Brescia in the Italian top division and Venezia in Serie B. Usually in Palermos starting eleven so seems to be doing fine in Sicily.

Stefan Ljubicic - been around mainly in his home country Iceland and is now playing for KR Reykjavik

Ben Hall - playing for Linfield in Northern Ireland

Bruno - in case you've missed it, he is now a coach at Chelsea.

Will Collar - the 26-year-old really found success after joining Stockport where he is a key player scoring lots of goals in League Two. Bit of a late bloomer but pretty sure we'll see him in League One or Championship in the not too distant future.

Antony Knockaert - has struggled since leaving Brighton and is currently playing on loan in a completely hopeless Huddersfield in the Championship.

2020/21
Luca Cocoracchio - playing for Worthing which is allegedly pretty much like living in Bahamas.

Archie Davies - after a few years in the English lower divisions, he is now with Dundalk from Ireland.

Jordan Davies - probably one of the most well-known non-league footballers as he's playing for Wrexham.

Lewis Freestone - playing for Cheltenham where he appears to be playing pretty much all the time.

Hugo Keto - the Finnish goalie moved back to Finland where he played for giants HJK for a year or two before moving to Norway and Sandefjord last season. Played 10 games allowing in 24 goals before getting benched.

Kacper Lopata - had injury problems but then finally found a somewhat important role in Southend, before leaving a few weeks ago after not getting paid for a while.

Bojan Radulovic - moved to Sweden and AIK where he got limited game time. He has some qualities but AIK is a top team and he's not really at that level. AIK moved him on to Finnish giants HJK where he is not always starting but a good backup striker who scores a fair amount of goals.

George Cox - has spent the last few seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie playing for Fortuna Sittard where he is arguably one of the best players.

Ezequiel Schelotto - has not really done much useful after his Brighton years and is now in Argentina where he seems to be playing or belonging to a club (fittingly?) named Deportivo Moron. I think he can be considered semi-retired. Realistically speaking he is now running a squirrel farm or something.

Beram Kayal - returned home to Israel to join newly promoted Bnei Sakhnin, now a solid mid-table team where he is playing week out week in.

Martin Montoya - left for Real Betis where he has played a couple of games per season which is more than enough, judging from the comments I've seen from Betis fans.

Aaron Mooy - after a short, hard-to-remember tenure in Brighton, he moved on to become a very slow, very bald playmaker in China before moving to Celtic last year where he is currently operating as a very slow, very bald playmaker. Seems to be doing a good job there and also had a good World Cup.

David Button - moved to WBA and has played occasionally. Their fans doesn't like him, but then again they don't like anyone. He's been quite shit most times I've seen him in the Championship.

Dale Stephens - got his beloved move to Burnley where he was injured and drunk for two years. Clubless since his contract ended with Burnley and you sort of have to assume there is some off-the-pitch thing keeping him out of football since he is a very proven and solid midfielder.

Warren O'Hora - nowadays a key player (with around 100 appearances under his belt) for The Milton Keynes-based Entity Previously Known as Wimbledon FC. Appears to be doing quite well in League One, so you'd imagine a call-up from Ireland can't be far away.

Glenn Murray - finished his career with doing pretty much nothing in Nottingham. Said when he retired that he might go into coaching in a few years but currently he is doing punditry somewhere, if I understand it correctly.

Max Sanders - in and out, most frequently out, of the Lincoln City side he joined in 2021. More game time this season than previously though, and the fans seems to like him more than his managers have so far.

2021/22
Davy Pröpper - moved home to the Netherlands to play for PSV but retired early, saying he was fed up with football. Some time later, Philip Cocu wanted him to make comeback for his childhood club Vitesse (struggling on and off the pitch), and he decided to do so, only to tear his ACL in the comeback about a month ago. Imagine that is it for him.

Danny Cashman - sold to Coventry where he's been on loan at three shite clubs, doing nothing for any of them and now struggling to get game time in the National League where he is on loan in Altrincham.

Peter Gwargis - moved back to Sweden and giants Malmö FF but didn't quite cut it. Was then loaned to his old club Jönköping where he had a brilliant start before tearing off his ACL. Back in action now, with Degerfors buying him from Malmö a couple of weeks ago.

Jose Izquierdo - signed a one year contract with Club Brugge after leaving Brighton. Barely played any football there and has been without a club since the summer. Injury free now but can't play without pain in his knee and is thinking about retiring.

Kipras Kazukolovas - Young mr Kipras appears to be doing just fine in the absolutely horseshit Lithuanian league.

Roco Rees - the goalie went to Brentfords B team which he is likely to leave in the summer.

Stefan Vukoje - substitute in a shite Serbian team.

Jan Mlakar - moved to big Croatian club Hajduk Split where he was considered quite a big signing. Did not live up to expectations in his first season and doing similar numbers now, with 8 goals in 27 games so far this season. Still only 24 years old and with allegedly a hefty sell-on fee, so lets hope he breaks through.

Bernardo - something of a utility player in the RB Salzburg defense. Has struggled a bit with injuries.

Romaric Yapi - squad player for Vitesse in the Eredivisie.

Viktor Gyökeres - scoring for fun in Coventry and also getting more and more call-ups to the Swedish national team. Lots of rumours about a PL move but apparently Coventry told him in December that he would not be sold for any price, a decision he respected and kept quiet about as he didn't want to cause any chaos. Assume he'll be in the PL next year.

Maty Ryan - Left Brighton for Real Sociedad where he was a little bit shit and got shipped to Copenhagen, where he was also a little bit shit (and ended up having a several months long verbal feud with the other goalie) before signing with AZ in Holland in January, where he is the undisputed starter. He's done well so far if I understand it right, and they are challenging for the Eredivisie title.

Ali Jahanbakhsh - usually looking angry on the Feyenoord bench. One of their biggest earners but not performing anywhere near that level.

Ben White - the weird and brilliant young man is doing quite well for Arsenal.

Percy Tau - earning a lot of money doing very little for Al Ahly. Usually either injured or not producing many goals or assists. I think this bloke was probably not very good.

Jurgen Locadia - first moved to Persepolis, where he did nothing, and then quite randomly moved to Iran and Persepolis, playing at the 80k stadium and scoring a bunch of goals. He then tweeted some supportive stuff about the Iranian protests and was told by the Dutch government to get the f*** out of there and is now without a club although there were rumours of several Dutch clubs, Blackburn and Barcelona (!) in the January window. He'll be back somewhere.

Christian Walton - Ipswich are pretending that they'll get a promotion and have done so well so far. Christian Walton is the main-goalie-man. I can't bother to find out if he's done well or not, I'll leave that to you.

Gary Dicker - retired and turned into a coach for the Brighton U18. Assume he is either there or in London now.

Ryan Longman - only 22 and getting a lot of game time for Hull, participating in nearly every game this season as a sub or starter.

Dan Burn - Dan Burn is God. God is kidnapped by oil though. But we still like him.

Billy Arce - first played a bit for Penarol in the Uruguayan league before joining Colombians Deportivo Pasto in January.

Jayson Molumby - getting a lot of game time in West Bromwich but all the talk surrounding him a few years ago turned out to be just... talk. Bang average Championship midfielder - not a bad thing, but probably not what he and others had hoped for. Still often called up for Ireland.

2022/23
Yves Bissouma - been very meh for Tottenham so far, could be argued it is a very difficult club to excel in as a central midfielder since they don't really use their midfield.

Alex Cochrane - went to Heart in Scotland where he is doing well and playing every week. Might escape from this plucky league before you know it.

Tudor Baluta - the Romanian legend is a key player in the Farul side currently leading the Romanian top division. Seems to have recovered from injury and existence doubts.

Lars Dendoncker - his contract with Brighton ended and he was about to sign for a new club, but during the medical a serious heart condition was found and he is now contemplating on whether to retire or not.

Ulrick Eneme Ella - moved to Angers in France but injured himself shortly after joining the club and hasn't been seen since.

Leo Östigård - wanted to play more football... which he isn't - just a backup. Understandable though as his Napoli might be the best team in the world.

Zak Sturge - moved to Chelsea and is playing regularly in the Chelsea U21 team.

Marc Cucurella - playing relatively much at Chelsea, without being particularly successful.

Matt Clarke - moved to Middlesbrough where he started the first six games before getting a back injury which has kept him out ever since. Seems like a complicated injury but hopefully he is back soon.

Neal Maupay - maupaying around in Everton.

Florin Andone - happily moved to Las Palmas and the Canary Islands where he is generally warming the bench with a cameo here and there. They are on their way up to La Liga and you'd assume they're not keeping Andone around if they get there. Or if they dont.

Zak Emmerson - despite a promising year last season, Emmerson felt homesick and was sold to Blackpool, where he is yet to make his debut for the first team.

Great thread Swansman.





Tareq Shihab - appears he first decided to retire from football after being let go, but had a change of hearts and joined a yankee club a year later. Recently played for Whitehawk and Newhaven before moving to IF Grotta on Iceland a month ago, so I assume he's actually a pro footballer since that is generally the case with foreign players in the Icelandic league. Worth noting that this is second tier in Iceland. It seems strange as he went to the US on a scholarship but seemingly gave it up after a year. Strange to stop it after a year, especially as second tier sides are often semi-pro in Iceland.

Soufyan Ahannach - moved to Go Ahead Eagles where he didn't really make it but then moved on to FC Den Bosch, had a good 18 months and moved to Al-Arabi in Saudi Arabia (though now on loan at Al-Rawdhah). Was interviewed a year ago or so about Brighton being successful in England and spoke very highly about the club. He lost a lot of his ability when he broke his leg sadly.


Stefan Ljubicic - been around mainly in his home country Iceland and is now playing for KR Reykjavik. Saw him a couple of times for Eastbourne Borough. You could see he wasn't going to make it after that loan and went the next year.


2020/21




George Cox - has spent the last few seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie playing for Fortuna Sittard where he is arguably one of the best players. He's been phenomenal. Saw him last week. He's constantly being touted to Ajax and PSV and wouldn't surprise me if he we have a sell on for him.



2021/22
Davy Pröpper - moved home to the Netherlands to play for PSV but retired early, saying he was fed up with football. Some time later, Philip Cocu wanted him to make comeback for his childhood club Vitesse (struggling on and off the pitch), and he decided to do so, only to tear his ACL in the comeback about a month ago. Imagine that is it for him.


2022/23


Tudor Baluta - the Romanian legend is a key player in the Farul side currently leading the Romanian top division. Seems to have recovered from injury and existence doubts. Saw him a few times when he signed for ADO Den Haag under Pardew. He seemed ok at Eredivise level but injuries really didn't help. For what it's worth, when I spoke to Pardew, he couldn't believe he got him to sign for ADO. Thought he was going to make it to the very top.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

If you ever go on Mastermind Swansman,this should be your specialist subject

Graham Potter including football related content?

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

bit of a theme that for so many players Brighton is their career peak. i'm not sure this is good.

Loads of players will just pass through here, never actually making it beyond playing for our U18s or U21s. What we are looking for are the Lewis Dunks, the next Solly March or Evan Ferguson. Every PL club, in fact every professional club with an academy system will have more players that don't make it than do.

For the senior players having us on their CV even if it's the biggest thing they achieved still means they were a PL player which considering the numbers that don't make it means you are in that 1% (probably less) that do make it to the top, that is always something to look back on with some pride.

Great list and research Swanny, some names I forgot were ever here, others who failed to live up to the expectations they brought with them.

 

[Comrade Sam]

If anything this all shows what a great judge the Albion are. So many of these players where billed as upcoming stars. I'd be concerned if it was a long list of players we dumped who are now massive stars!

 

[um bongo molongo]

Really interesting. Shows that generally we’ve been very good at our decision making. With the possible exception of Gyökeres we’ve either got a big fee, or the player hasn’t proved to be that good. Or both in the case of Cucurella!

 

[BNthree]

Massive shame about Jose Izquierdo, what a great player he was. If he's injury-free I'm surprised he isn't playing somewhere.

At the time I was concerned we brought him back from injury too soon and played him too much. Does seem he never fully recovered which is awful for him. We were desperate for PL survival at the time though.

 

[Surf's Up]

Chapeau Swansman!! Thank you - excellent research.

 

[Goldstone Glen]

Well, almost all. There's some obscure youngsters I've ignored but if you want info of them you'll have to get AZ Gull back in action.

2019/20
Jordan Araujo - playing for FC Buffalo in the US. Not a professional club I think.

Ben Barclay - went to Accrington Stanley (who?) and while not really a starter he still played 30+ games for them during two seasons. Simon Rusk then brought him to Stockport where he's had limited game time and he is now on a not particularly successful loan in Carlisle.

Tareq Shihab - appears he first decided to retire from football after being let go, but had a change of hearts and joined a yankee club a year later. Recently played for Whitehawk and Newhaven before moving to IF Grotta on Iceland a month ago, so I assume he's actually a pro footballer since that is generally the case with foreign players in the Icelandic league.

Soufyan Ahannach - moved to Go Ahead Eagles where he didn't really make it but then moved on to FC Den Bosch, had a good 18 months and moved to Al-Arabi in Saudi Arabia (though now on loan at Al-Rawdhah). Was interviewed a year ago or so about Brighton being successful in England and spoke very highly about the club.

Gaetan Bong - left Brighton for Nottingham, where we was... not good, but still got a lot of praise for being a model professional. Clubless since last summer and with reports saying he might become a football agent, its quite possible he is done playing.

James Tilley - been around quite a bit since leaving Brighton but now appears to be a key player for Crawley in League Two.

Anders Dreyer - has improved for each season and in January he made the move from Midtjylland in his home country Denmark to Anderlecht (recently taken over by Danish people) where he has had a great start, scoring three goals in six appearances. Two caps for Denmark so far and likely will be more to come.

Tomer Hemed - after a poor stint in Charlton he moved to New Zeeland and played for Wellington in the Australian league (ees complicated) before moving to Western Sydney Wanderers where he spent a year. Now back in Israel playing for Hapoel Be'er Sheva which is a top team these days.

Markus Suttner - played for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Austria Wien until last year when he decided to step down some levels, joining amateur side SK Wullersdorf.

Piotr Zalewski - clubless for a few years now, have to assume he's retired.

Matthew Weaire - playing for Cray Wanderers after recently playing for Lewes.

Richie Towell - despite being Irish, Towell did not turn out to be world class and after a couple of alright years in Salford he's now back in Ireland playing for Shamrock Rovers where you have to assume he is a key player.

Joe Tomlinson - after a couple of years in Hungerford and Eastleigh he got picked up by Peterborough. Now on his second loan spell in Swindon where the ambition seems to be to sign him up after the season.

Ales Mateju - playing with Palermo in Serie B having previously played for Brescia in the Italian top division and Venezia in Serie B. Usually in Palermos starting eleven so seems to be doing fine in Sicily.

Stefan Ljubicic - been around mainly in his home country Iceland and is now playing for KR Reykjavik

Ben Hall - playing for Linfield in Northern Ireland

Bruno - in case you've missed it, he is now a coach at Chelsea.

Will Collar - the 26-year-old really found success after joining Stockport where he is a key player scoring lots of goals in League Two. Bit of a late bloomer but pretty sure we'll see him in League One or Championship in the not too distant future.

Antony Knockaert - has struggled since leaving Brighton and is currently playing on loan in a completely hopeless Huddersfield in the Championship.

2020/21
Luca Cocoracchio - playing for Worthing which is allegedly pretty much like living in Bahamas.

Archie Davies - after a few years in the English lower divisions, he is now with Dundalk from Ireland.

Jordan Davies - probably one of the most well-known non-league footballers as he's playing for Wrexham.

Lewis Freestone - playing for Cheltenham where he appears to be playing pretty much all the time.

Hugo Keto - the Finnish goalie moved back to Finland where he played for giants HJK for a year or two before moving to Norway and Sandefjord last season. Played 10 games allowing in 24 goals before getting benched.

Kacper Lopata - had injury problems but then finally found a somewhat important role in Southend, before leaving a few weeks ago after not getting paid for a while.

Bojan Radulovic - moved to Sweden and AIK where he got limited game time. He has some qualities but AIK is a top team and he's not really at that level. AIK moved him on to Finnish giants HJK where he is not always starting but a good backup striker who scores a fair amount of goals.

George Cox - has spent the last few seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie playing for Fortuna Sittard where he is arguably one of the best players.

Ezequiel Schelotto - has not really done much useful after his Brighton years and is now in Argentina where he seems to be playing or belonging to a club (fittingly?) named Deportivo Moron. I think he can be considered semi-retired. Realistically speaking he is now running a squirrel farm or something.

Beram Kayal - returned home to Israel to join newly promoted Bnei Sakhnin, now a solid mid-table team where he is playing week out week in.

Martin Montoya - left for Real Betis where he has played a couple of games per season which is more than enough, judging from the comments I've seen from Betis fans.

Aaron Mooy - after a short, hard-to-remember tenure in Brighton, he moved on to become a very slow, very bald playmaker in China before moving to Celtic last year where he is currently operating as a very slow, very bald playmaker. Seems to be doing a good job there and also had a good World Cup.

David Button - moved to WBA and has played occasionally. Their fans doesn't like him, but then again they don't like anyone. He's been quite shit most times I've seen him in the Championship.

Dale Stephens - got his beloved move to Burnley where he was injured and drunk for two years. Clubless since his contract ended with Burnley and you sort of have to assume there is some off-the-pitch thing keeping him out of football since he is a very proven and solid midfielder.

Warren O'Hora - nowadays a key player (with around 100 appearances under his belt) for The Milton Keynes-based Entity Previously Known as Wimbledon FC. Appears to be doing quite well in League One, so you'd imagine a call-up from Ireland can't be far away.

Glenn Murray - finished his career with doing pretty much nothing in Nottingham. Said when he retired that he might go into coaching in a few years but currently he is doing punditry somewhere, if I understand it correctly.

Max Sanders - in and out, most frequently out, of the Lincoln City side he joined in 2021. More game time this season than previously though, and the fans seems to like him more than his managers have so far.

2021/22
Davy Pröpper - moved home to the Netherlands to play for PSV but retired early, saying he was fed up with football. Some time later, Philip Cocu wanted him to make comeback for his childhood club Vitesse (struggling on and off the pitch), and he decided to do so, only to tear his ACL in the comeback about a month ago. Imagine that is it for him.

Danny Cashman - sold to Coventry where he's been on loan at three shite clubs, doing nothing for any of them and now struggling to get game time in the National League where he is on loan in Altrincham.

Peter Gwargis - moved back to Sweden and giants Malmö FF but didn't quite cut it. Was then loaned to his old club Jönköping where he had a brilliant start before tearing off his ACL. Back in action now, with Degerfors buying him from Malmö a couple of weeks ago.

Jose Izquierdo - signed a one year contract with Club Brugge after leaving Brighton. Barely played any football there and has been without a club since the summer. Injury free now but can't play without pain in his knee and is thinking about retiring.

Kipras Kazukolovas - Young mr Kipras appears to be doing just fine in the absolutely horseshit Lithuanian league.

Roco Rees - the goalie went to Brentfords B team which he is likely to leave in the summer.

Stefan Vukoje - substitute in a shite Serbian team.

Jan Mlakar - moved to big Croatian club Hajduk Split where he was considered quite a big signing. Did not live up to expectations in his first season and doing similar numbers now, with 8 goals in 27 games so far this season. Still only 24 years old and with allegedly a hefty sell-on fee, so lets hope he breaks through.

Bernardo - something of a utility player in the RB Salzburg defense. Has struggled a bit with injuries.

Romaric Yapi - squad player for Vitesse in the Eredivisie.

Viktor Gyökeres - scoring for fun in Coventry and also getting more and more call-ups to the Swedish national team. Lots of rumours about a PL move but apparently Coventry told him in December that he would not be sold for any price, a decision he respected and kept quiet about as he didn't want to cause any chaos. Assume he'll be in the PL next year.

Maty Ryan - Left Brighton for Real Sociedad where he was a little bit shit and got shipped to Copenhagen, where he was also a little bit shit (and ended up having a several months long verbal feud with the other goalie) before signing with AZ in Holland in January, where he is the undisputed starter. He's done well so far if I understand it right, and they are challenging for the Eredivisie title.

Ali Jahanbakhsh - usually looking angry on the Feyenoord bench. One of their biggest earners but not performing anywhere near that level.

Ben White - the weird and brilliant young man is doing quite well for Arsenal.

Percy Tau - earning a lot of money doing very little for Al Ahly. Usually either injured or not producing many goals or assists. I think this bloke was probably not very good.

Jurgen Locadia - first moved to Persepolis, where he did nothing, and then quite randomly moved to Iran and Persepolis, playing at the 80k stadium and scoring a bunch of goals. He then tweeted some supportive stuff about the Iranian protests and was told by the Dutch government to get the f*** out of there and is now without a club although there were rumours of several Dutch clubs, Blackburn and Barcelona (!) in the January window. He'll be back somewhere.

Christian Walton - Ipswich are pretending that they'll get a promotion and have done so well so far. Christian Walton is the main-goalie-man. I can't bother to find out if he's done well or not, I'll leave that to you.

Gary Dicker - retired and turned into a coach for the Brighton U18. Assume he is either there or in London now.

Ryan Longman - only 22 and getting a lot of game time for Hull, participating in nearly every game this season as a sub or starter.

Dan Burn - Dan Burn is God. God is kidnapped by oil though. But we still like him.

Billy Arce - first played a bit for Penarol in the Uruguayan league before joining Colombians Deportivo Pasto in January.

Jayson Molumby - getting a lot of game time in West Bromwich but all the talk surrounding him a few years ago turned out to be just... talk. Bang average Championship midfielder - not a bad thing, but probably not what he and others had hoped for. Still often called up for Ireland.

2022/23
Yves Bissouma - been very meh for Tottenham so far, could be argued it is a very difficult club to excel in as a central midfielder since they don't really use their midfield.

Alex Cochrane - went to Heart in Scotland where he is doing well and playing every week. Might escape from this plucky league before you know it.

Tudor Baluta - the Romanian legend is a key player in the Farul side currently leading the Romanian top division. Seems to have recovered from injury and existence doubts.

Lars Dendoncker - his contract with Brighton ended and he was about to sign for a new club, but during the medical a serious heart condition was found and he is now contemplating on whether to retire or not.

Ulrick Eneme Ella - moved to Angers in France but injured himself shortly after joining the club and hasn't been seen since.

Leo Östigård - wanted to play more football... which he isn't - just a backup. Understandable though as his Napoli might be the best team in the world.

Zak Sturge - moved to Chelsea and is playing regularly in the Chelsea U21 team.

Marc Cucurella - playing relatively much at Chelsea, without being particularly successful.

Matt Clarke - moved to Middlesbrough where he started the first six games before getting a back injury which has kept him out ever since. Seems like a complicated injury but hopefully he is back soon.

Neal Maupay - maupaying around in Everton.

Florin Andone - happily moved to Las Palmas and the Canary Islands where he is generally warming the bench with a cameo here and there. They are on their way up to La Liga and you'd assume they're not keeping Andone around if they get there. Or if they dont.

Zak Emmerson - despite a promising year last season, Emmerson felt homesick and was sold to Blackpool, where he is yet to make his debut for the first team.

Wasn’t Andone the greatest player all time, or am I overrating him slightly?