[Albion] Rate Albion’s Summer 2024/25 transfer window

[Hugo Rune]

I’m going with a ‘10’.

It’s incredibly easy to lose sight of the our objectives in a transfer window. Are we trying to make lots of money? Are we trying to sign players we’ve heard of and like? I don’t think so.

We have a new manager and for me, the prime objective was to transition the squad from an RDZ one into a Hürzeler one. The biggest and most shocking adjustment being the profile of midfielders FH requires. Losing Groß was painful but it was coming. Losing WBG hurt but was understandable, he can never be the lynchpin of a proper Hürzeler team although I have to say, he has performed well in the RDZ/Hürzeler transitional one which we may see for some time with the injuries mounting up. O’Riley looks like a genuine replacement for Groß and Rutter (who will surely feature today) is going shock some people with his MotM performances in midfield. Looking at Gruda, I think he could do for us what Cole Palmer did for Chelsea last season. He had a similar reputation here to what the German has now in his home country. Watch him fly.

We also solved some long running issues and weakness with the squad. March has been our only inverted right winger for some time. We now have and exciting Minteh, Gruda looks a decent option there too and we’ll have ACD for the future when Newcastle come back for ‘their player’ with a £60m+ bid.

Right back looks a lot stronger now. You have Ferdi pushing for a starting role in both full back areas but Veltman is still pretty solid and probably preferable against the likes of Everton.

Finally, I believe that we have done our business (in terms of £10m+ acquisitions) for 2025 and possibly, most of 2026. When we sell players now, they’ll be replaced by the likes of Yalcouyé, Osman and Cozier-Duberry along with the likes of Barco, Sarmiento and Buonanotte coming back to claim their squad places. Look at that Smug in Newcastle moaning his ‘A’ off. There was an opportunity to buy some great players with a number of our rivals handicapped by PSR, Tony went all in and got what we needed. Well done that man!

10/10

 

[Hugo Rune]

Exciting window. Sorry to see Gilmour leave but pleased we have still got Pedro, Mitoma, Adingra and Ferguson

And there was have it. Perfectly arguable that these players will and should be our best front four:

———————-Ferguson———————
Mitoma————-Pedro———-—-Adingra

We’ve strengthened from a position of strength.

 

[bhafc99]

It feels slightly overwhelming tbh. Unprecedented days for the Albion, and the biggest roll of the dice we’ve ever, um, rolled.

I completely get the strategy and timing - go big in a market where everyone else is largely sitting on their hands due to PSR. Spend NOW the cash that’s been carefully accumulated over previous seasons as “there’ll never be a better moment”, and this is our chance to invest it all for that step change in the club’s status that regular European football requires.

But there’s a lot involved in such a gamble, and such wholesale change. Are all, or even most, of these players the right ones to take us up a notch? Is sending so many of our young talents out or away - Barco, Goodnight, Sarmiento, WBG etc - going to prove the right path for enough of them?

If nothing else, it certainly proves that Tony is the consummate gambler. To date, he’s been canny and clever, he’s played a long game, and now he’s boldly pushing his tower of chips all in. It’s a genuine ‘hold your breath’ moment in the Albion’s history - do we have that winning hand or not?

 

[TudorApples]

9 for me - kept our big name players and brought in some excellent prospects.
I would have loved Gilmour to stay and was excited to see Sarmiento get his chance here, rather than another loan.
But the club knows best and I’m extremely happy overall and looking forward to this season!

 

[brighton_tom]

And there was have it. Perfectly arguable that these players will and should be our best front four:

———————-Ferguson———————
Mitoma————-Pedro———-—-Adingra

We’ve strengthened from a position of strength.

Our biggest strength this year will be the ability to play those 4, and then sub on some/all of Welbeck, Minteh, Rutter, March, or Enciso. Not many clubs have that. We can overpower teams in those final 10/20 minutes.

 

[dazzer6666]

I’m going with a ‘10’.

It’s incredibly easy to lose sight of the our objectives in a transfer window. Are we trying to make lots of money? Are we trying to sign players we’ve heard of and like? I don’t think so.

We have a new manager and the for me, the objective was to transfer the squad from an RDZ one to a Hürzeler one. The biggest and most shocking adjustment being the profile of midfielders FH requires. Losing Groß was painful but it was coming. Losing WBG hurt but was understandable, he can never be the lynchpin of a proper Hürzeler team although I have to say, he has performed well in the RDZ/Hürzeler transitional one which we may see for some time with the injuries mounting up. O’Riley looks like a genuine replacement for Groß and Rutter (who will surely feature today) is going shock some people with his MotM performances in midfield. Looking at Gruda, I think he could do for us what Cole Palmer did for Chelsea last season. He had a similar reputation here to what the German has now in his home country. Watch him fly.

We also solved some long running issues and weakness with the squad. March has been our only inverted right winger for some time. We now have and exciting Minteh, Gruda looks a decent option there too and we’ll have ACD for the future when Newcastle come back for ‘their player’ with a £60m+ bid.

Right back looks a lot stronger now. You have Ferdi pushing for a starting role in both full back areas but Veltman is still pretty solid and probably preferable against the likes of Everton.

Finally, I believe that we have done our business (in terms of £10m+ acquisitions) for 2025 and possibly, most of 2026. When we sell players now, they’ll be replaced by the likes of Yalcouyé, Osman and Cozier-Duberry along with the likes of Barco, Sarmiento and Buonanotte coming back to claim their squad places. Look at that Smug in Newcastle moaning his ‘A’ off. There was an opportunity to buy some great players with a number of our rivals handicapped by PSR, Tony went all in and got what we needed. Well done that man!

10/10

Nailed it

 

[DavidRyder]

Losing Gilmour was a real disappointment, otherwise not too shabby at all

 

[Soton Seagull]

I looks great on paper,but hard to judge as not seen many of them play for us yet. As such a cautious 7.

could be much better in reality, but literally don't know yet!

 

[Gwylan]

Not sure I understand the caution by some. We've already seen three of the players in PL action (albeit Rutter only briefly) and none looked overwhelmed. It's hard for a player to adjust to English football and we've seen several players struggle at first, so although Wieffer and Minteh had a few wobbles, that's par for the course.

Of the others, three have gone out on loan, so plenty of time to assess them. Of the remaining three, one is a highly rated player from Scotland, who many pundits thought was destined for a 'bigger' club. One was one of the standout players of the recent Euros. I thought he was right up there with Musiala and Yamal as someone who was exciting to watch. And talking of Yamal, our third new player was second to the Spanish wonder kid in the most successful dribbles by European U21s.

On top of the acquisitions, we've shed some excess - top marks for getting rid of Dahoud. Got more than I thought we'd get for Undav and Der Kaiser (I'm sorry to see him go, but it was inevitable). I also don't share the grief for WBG. A decent player but nothing special, certainly not someone I'd expect to see in a team pushing for top 6.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the window. I gave it a 9 (like many, I'd like to have seen a speedy CB) and it's hard to moan at that.

 

[pigmanovich]

Where's the don't know option? So many players coming in that some of us have never heard of, let alone seen - and so many of them that if you play them all at once it will be hard to recognise it as a Brighton team!

Sorry, I'll have to get used to them all before I can start raving about any of them!

Just as well that we’ve barely seen the newbies play beside Minteh and Wieffer, then!

 

[London Irish]

It’s a 100 if you compare it with past two windows

 

[Guinness Boy]

Ins are a 10. Shame they’re nearly all injured.

Outs a 5 at max. Didn’t shift enough dead wood and Gross will be a big miss.

M’eh about Gilmour though. Simply “not as” compared to our other options. Not as good defensively as Weiffer, not as strong and dynamic as Baleba, not as experienced as Milner, not as creative as O’Riley.

 

[dazzer6666]

Not sure I understand the caution by some. We've already seen three of the players in PL action (albeit Rutter only briefly) and none looked overwhelmed. It's hard for a player to adjust to English football and we've seen several players struggle at first, so although Wieffer and Minteh had a few wobbles, that's par for the course.

Of the others, three have gone out on loan, so plenty of time to assess them. Of the remaining three, one is a highly rated player from Scotland, who many pundits thought was destined for a 'bigger' club. One was one of the standout players of the recent Euros. I thought he was right up there with Musiala and Yamal as someone who was exciting to watch. And talking of Yamal, our third new player was second to the Spanish wonder kid in the most successful dribbles by European U21s.

On top of the acquisitions, we've shed some excess - top marks for getting rid of Dahoud. Got more than I thought we'd get for Undav and Der Kaiser (I'm sorry to see him go, but it was inevitable). I also don't share the grief for WBG. A decent player but nothing special, certainly not someone I'd expect to see in a team pushing for top 6.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the window. I gave it a 9 (like many, I'd like to have seen a speedy CB) and it's hard to moan at that.

..... worth adding we didn't sell any 'prize assets' either, despite some fears around Mitoma, João Pedro etc.....

 

[dazzer6666]

Ins are a 10. Shame they’re nearly all injured.

Outs a 5 at max. Didn’t shift enough dead wood and Gross will be a big miss.

M’eh about Gilmour though. Simply “not as” compared to our other options. Not as good defensively as Weiffer, not as strong and dynamic as Baleba, not as experienced as Milner, not as creative as O’Riley.

Who else needs shifting? Some still possibly going out on loan.....

 

[Guinness Boy]

Who else needs shifting? Some still possibly going out on loan.....

Lamptey and Igor looked hopeless on Tuesday. I’d hoped Ferdi coming in would have seen Lamptey go. Ideally we’d have upgraded Igor but I guess no takers. Moder is going to be surplus to requirements too.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

If you look up the definition of "glass half empty", this is what you'll find.

I prefer the word “pragmatic”.

I did preface my post by saying it could turn into a 10 the fact that we’ve bought all these players and we still have Milner starting in CM and Hinshelwood at LB against Arsenal highlights why that pragmatism is there. The fact is many thought we had a 9/10 or 10/10 window last year and we clearly didn’t…

In fact, the fact that we have spent £200m and only one of those players is ready for a starting 11 position, and one on the bench, says a lot.

But I hope for the 10 over the longer term.

 

[dazzer6666]

Lamptey and Igor looked hopeless on Tuesday. I’d hoped Ferdi coming in would have seen Lamptey go. Ideally we’d have upgraded Igor but I guess no takers. Moder is going to be surplus to requirements too.

Think they are all ok as squad backup as long as they're happy and committed

 

[Hiheidi]

 

[brighton_tom]

is that accurate?

Based on reported fees we paid;

Wieffer £25m
Minteh £30-33m
Yalcouye £6m
Osman £16m (but that’s in last years account I would assume)
ACD free
Kadioglu £25-30m
Gruda £25m
O’Riley £25-30m
Rutter £40m

And then sold
Undav £25-30m
Gross £8-10m
Gilmour £10-15m
& a few youngsters sold.

So even if you take the higher end of the estimates paid we spent £205m & the lower end of what we sold is £43m, so £162m net. But it could be wildly different if it’s actually the lower end of fees paid & higher of what we sold, and you take Osman out of the mix. That would mean more like £120m net (so near enough the Caicedo sale pays for it all). Who knows really… or am I missing anyone from those lists?

 

[Hiheidi]

So even if you take the higher end of the estimates paid we spent £205m & the lower end of what we sold is £43m, so £162m net. But it could be wildly different if it’s actually the lower end of fees paid & higher of what we sold, and you take Osman out of the mix. That would mean more like £120m net (so near enough the Caicedo sale pays for it all). Who knows really… or am I missing anyone from those lists?

I've no idea! Does this explain it?