[Albion] Summer Window and Squad 24/25

[Gabbiano]

Weird.

Leonard, off the back of two seasons of excellent performance on loan, being one of the best midfielders in L1, looks to be going to L1 Birmingham at a cut down price.

Chouchane, who has yet to do anything beyond being in and out of our U23/21 team, despite being at the club for many years now, is attracting interest from Championship Bristol City?

Maybe the data says something that I'm not seeing.

 

[Machiavelli]

I’m glad there’s at least one area where I know what I’m talking about! Hope you and your son enjoyed him, he’s a really special artist.

Just seen that the album is up for the Mercury Prize but, as good as it is, Beth Gibbons warrants it.

 

[Machiavelli]

Weird.

Leonard, off the back of two seasons of excellent performance on loan, being one of the best midfielders in L1, looks to be going to L1 Birmingham at a cut down price.

Chouchane, who has yet to do anything beyond being in and out of our U23/21 team, despite being at the club for many years now, is attracting interest from Championship Bristol City?

Maybe the data says something that I'm not seeing.

Chouchane is 20. Leonard is 22. Age is usually the best guide.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Weird.

Leonard, off the back of two seasons of excellent performance on loan, being one of the best midfielders in L1, looks to be going to L1 Birmingham at a cut down price.

Chouchane, who has yet to do anything beyond being in and out of our U23/21 team, despite being at the club for many years now, is attracting interest from Championship Bristol City?

Maybe the data says something that I'm not seeing.

From Leonard’s point of view he’s joining a team who look like certainties to get promoted in a league he knows he can boss. I imagine it’s very likely he’ll be in their first XI and probably a key player. If they get promoted, they could easily use their momentum to kick on again the year after. Career trajectory wise it might not seem like an immediate step forward but within a few years it could look a great move.

The fee does seem somewhat cheap. I’d hope there’s a big sell on clause in there.

 

[chaileyjem]

The fee does seem somewhat cheap. I’d hope there’s a big sell on clause in there.

There’s a sell on clause according to reports

 

[GT49er]

Weird.

Leonard, off the back of two seasons of excellent performance on loan, being one of the best midfielders in L1, looks to be going to L1 Birmingham at a cut down price.

Chouchane, who has yet to do anything beyond being in and out of our U23/21 team, despite being at the club for many years now, is attracting interest from Championship Bristol City?

Maybe the data says something that I'm not seeing.

Maybe the difference is that one is a loan, the other a permanent purchase. Doesn't really explain why Leonard is going to a low level at a knockdown price though, but a loan to the Championship isn't uncommon for us these days (although frankly they weren't too successful last season).

 

[chaileyjem]

Maybe the difference is that one is a loan, the other a permanent purchase. Doesn't really explain why Leonard is going to a low level at a knockdown price though, but a loan to the Championship isn't uncommon for us these days (although frankly they weren't too successful last season).

Is £500k for a L1 defender really a knockdown price ?

PS - you only need a couple of those loans to come good to make it all worthwhile. Albion presumably expect most to be released/small fees - that’s just how it is. There really isn’t much of market now outside of the PL. Carl Rushworth was the Champ success last season and that’s probably enough for the model.

 

[Han Solo]

Is £500k for a L1 defender really a knockdown price ?

PS - you only need a couple of those loans to come good to make it all worthwhile. Albion presumably expect most to be released/small fees - that’s just how it is. There really isn’t much of market now outside of the PL. Carl Rushworth was the Champ success last season and that’s probably enough for the model.

£500k + sell-on is fine. Makes him one of the twenty most expensive midfielders ever bought in League One.

Maybe the difference is that one is a loan, the other a permanent purchase. Doesn't really explain why Leonard is going to a low level at a knockdown price though, but a loan to the Championship isn't uncommon for us these days (although frankly they weren't too successful last season).

Birmingham has already spent more money than most Championship clubs will do the entire summer... it might look like a "low level", but they're very ambitious. Probably both financial and sporting reasons why he'd pick Birmingham over some bottom half Championship club.

 

[GT49er]

Is £500k for a L1 defender really a knockdown price ?

No, but for a midfielder, especially one who should/could be playing at a higher level (he bossed League1 last season, so could well have expected to step up a level) it is a disappointing price. Yes, Birmingham have now got money - and they've splashed out already (including nearly £4M* on another midfielder) and could afford to pay more than £500K, so yes, they really have got a bargain.

....................and by comparison, is £500k for a L1 defender a knock down price? Yes it would be, considering they've just spent over £1M on a former Brighton LB, and £4M* on a German CB!

* Prices as per Transfermarkt.

 

[GT49er]

Birmingham has already spent more money than most Championship clubs will do the entire summer... it might look like a "low level", but they're very ambitious. Probably both financial and sporting reasons why he'd pick Birmingham over some bottom half Championship club.

Yes, they have; they've got plenty - so why let them have a bargain? Anyway, I hope the sell-on is HUGE. It needs to be!

 

[chaileyjem]

Pascal - officially gone.

 

[nevergoagain]

Sad day, but we move on. He will prove to be an Albion legend for what he did. Wish him well.

 

[um bongo molongo]

I’d feel a lot more confident about the squad if we’d signed Dewsbury Hall. Fecking Chelsea

 

[GT49er]

From Leonard’s point of view he’s joining a team who look like certainties to get promoted in a league he knows he can boss. I imagine it’s very likely he’ll be in their first XI and probably a key player. If they get promoted, they could easily use their momentum to kick on again the year after. Career trajectory wise it might not seem like an immediate step forward but within a few years it could look a great move.

The fee does seem somewhat cheap. I’d hope there’s a big sell on clause in there.

Well, I hope he's not going to be disapointed. Birmingham fans seem pretty certain that they've got, and are going to get, bigger and better options in midfield than young Marc Leonard - he's a make-weight and squad member seems to be their general opinion.

 

[chaileyjem]

Window opens : Friday June 14th
Closes : Friday August 30th
Updated to include Gross transfer, i've also taken out BBB who didn't go to Japan and seems to be training with the u21s. (Perhaps a loan ?) and the rather random list of u21s at the bottom.
We're still at about 39 or so for the squad so a fair bit of trimming to go. especially if more incomings.

Goalkeepers
1.Steele ( HGP ) (2026) - 33
2.Verbruggen (2028) - 21
3. Rushworth - (2027 + 1 year option) - 22

Full Backs
4. .Lamptey (HGP) (2025) - 23
5. Estupinan (2027) - 25
6. Veltman (2025) - 32
u21. Hinshelwood (HGP) (2026) - 18
u21. Barco (2028+ 1 year ) - 19
7. Offiah (HGP) (2025) - 21

Centre Backs
8. Webster ( HGP ) ( 2026) - 29
9..Dunk ( HGP ) (2026) - 32
10..van Hecke (2027) - 23
11.Igor Julio (2027) - 25
12. Turns (2025) - 21

Midfielders
13..Moder (2025) - 25
14..Gilmour (2026) (HGP) - 23
15. Milner (HGP) (2025) - 38
u21. Baleba (2028 + 1) - 20
16. Dahoud (2027) - 28
17. Ayari (2027) - 20
18. Moran (2027) - 20
19. Wieffer (2028) - 24
u21 Yalcouye (2029) - 18

Wingers/Forwards
U21. Buonanotte (2027) - 19
20. March ( HGP ) (2026 + 1 year option) - 29
21. Mitoma (2027) - 27
U21. Enciso (2026 + 1 yr option) - 20
22. Adingra (2026) - 21
23.. Sarmiento (2027 + 1 year option) - 21
u21. Mazilu - 18
u21 Osman (2029) -19
u21 Minteh (2029) -19
u21 Cozier-Duberry (HGP) -19

Centre Forwards
24. Welbeck ( HGP ) (2026) - 33
25. Joao Pedro (HGP) (2028)- 22
U21. Ferguson (2028) - 19
26. Sima (2025 ) - 22
27. Undav (2026) - 27
u21 O Mahony (2027) - 19

Players bought in Summer 2024: Osman (Nordsjælland ), Minteh (Newcastle FC), Wieffer (Feyenoord), Cozier Duberry (Arsenal), Yalcouye (IFK Goteborg)
Players sold in Summer 2024: Koslowski ( Gaziantep FK ), Leonard (Birmingham), .Groß (Borussia Dortmund)
Players released: Alzate, Lallana
Current Loans: Scherpen, (2027),24 (Sturm Graz) , Beadle (2028), 19 (Sheff Weds), Jackson (2025+1), 20 (Livingston), McGill (2025), (MK Dons) ,

u21s in 24/25 are born on or after Jan 1 2003

 

[nevergoagain]

Feels like we've got a huge amount still to do this window. More outs than in. There's a lot of U21's that I assume will go out on loan and then decisions needed on Sarmiento, Osman, Undav (surely will go), Ayari, Sima, Buonanotte, Igor & WBG plus any other unforeseen dramas. Moder, Dahoud will surely move on if we can find an exit too. I'd like to see Sarmiento, Buonanotte and Osman stay with us but that's going to massively reduce their playing time. Glad I'm not the manager.

 

[chaileyjem]

Some news as the squad keeps taking shape.
- Season long loan to L2 Grimsby Town for Luca Barrington
- Reporting that Carl Rushworth is headed for a Championship season long loan this season . (presumably meaning that Verbruggen + Steele + Cahill ? - are our three keepers for 24/25
- More incoming reporting especially around Mats Hummels and Matt O Riley.
- Outgoing reporting around Gilmour, and Buonanotte (loan)

Window opens : Friday June 14th
Closes : Friday August 30th
Updated to include Gross transfer, i've also taken out BBB who didn't go to Japan and seems to be training with the u21s. (Perhaps a loan ?) and the rather random list of u21s at the bottom.
We're still at about 39 or so for the squad so a fair bit of trimming to go. especially if more incomings.

Goalkeepers
1.Steele ( HGP ) (2026) - 33
2.Verbruggen (2028) - 21
3. Rushworth - (2027 + 1 year option) - 22

Full Backs
4. .Lamptey (HGP) (2025) - 23
5. Estupinan (2027) - 25
6. Veltman (2025) - 32
u21. Hinshelwood (HGP) (2026) - 18
u21. Barco (2028+ 1 year ) - 19
7. Offiah (HGP) (2025) - 21

Centre Backs
8. Webster ( HGP ) ( 2026) - 29
9..Dunk ( HGP ) (2026) - 32
10..van Hecke (2027) - 23
11.Igor Julio (2027) - 25
12. Turns (2025) - 21

Midfielders
13..Moder (2025) - 25
14..Gilmour (2026) (HGP) - 23
15. Milner (HGP) (2025) - 38
u21. Baleba (2028 + 1) - 20
16. Dahoud (2027) - 28
17. Ayari (2027) - 20
18. Moran (2027) - 20
19. Wieffer (2028) - 24
u21 Yalcouye (2029) - 18

Wingers/Forwards
U21. Buonanotte (2027) - 19
20. March ( HGP ) (2026 + 1 year option) - 29
21. Mitoma (2027) - 27
U21. Enciso (2026 + 1 yr option) - 20
22. Adingra (2026) - 21
23.. Sarmiento (2027 + 1 year option) - 21
u21. Mazilu - 18
u21 Osman (2029) -19
u21 Minteh (2029) -19
u21 Cozier-Duberry (HGP) -19

Centre Forwards
24. Welbeck ( HGP ) (2026) - 33
25. Joao Pedro (HGP) (2028)- 22
U21. Ferguson (2028) - 19
26. Sima (2025 ) - 22
27. Undav (2026) - 27
u21 O Mahony (2027) - 19

Players bought in Summer 2024: Osman (Nordsjælland ), Minteh (Newcastle FC), Wieffer (Feyenoord), Cozier Duberry (Arsenal), Yalcouye (IFK Goteborg)
Players sold in Summer 2024: Koslowski ( Gaziantep FK ), Leonard (Birmingham), .Groß (Borussia Dortmund)
Players released: Alzate, Lallana
Current Loans: Scherpen, (2027),24 (Sturm Graz) , Beadle (2028), 19 (Sheff Weds), Jackson (2025+1), 20 (Livingston), McGill (2025), (MK Dons) , Barrington (Grimsby)

u21s in 24/25 are born on or after Jan 1 2003

 

[Dagan]

I've been thinking quite a bit about the remaining potential incomings and outgoings, and how our final PL-registered official squad list will look. I think we are going to see a few (3-4) more coming in and quite a big number (quite possibly well into the teens) going out (either by loan or transfer) over the next few weeks. How I reached that conclusion is below. It was really helpful to me to write this all out for my own brain's sake. I hope it will be helpful for some of you to read, and that it helps you think through how you might answer some of these squad questions as well, so I'm posting it here. Shoutout to the original poster here, as you've already given folks an incredible platform for squad considerations already, with posting this detailed breakdown here on NSC.

*You have my apologies for this being a bit meandering and perhaps even contradictory to itself, but it's reflective of the conflict between guys I wanted to keep (and thought we would at first glance) and the difficulty of getting the squad down to a size comparable to what we had last season (and as a reminder, we don't have extra games in Europe to make it necessary to use as many players, nor do we hope to have as many injuries of course, but that's not a memory I want to revisit in great detail). I will say, I think that the fan base is still dealing with our post-Mac Allister/Caicedo midfield trauma last year, and retain a fear that losing a small group of quality players means imminent collapse. However, given what you'll see below, I think we have to accept that some tough decisions about who remains in the squad will have to be made, and that some well-liked and some really useful players will have to be moved along because of how many talented players we have in the fold.

Without additional signings, here are the over age 21 guys that might be in the official PL squad list:

1. Verbruggen
2. ⁠Steele
3. ⁠Lamptey - transfer?
4. ⁠Veltman - transfer?
5. ⁠Offiah - loan/transfer?
6. ⁠Dunk
7. ⁠Van Hecke
8. ⁠Igor
9. ⁠Webster
10. ⁠Turns - loan/transfer?
11. ⁠Estupinan
12. ⁠Milner
13. ⁠March
14. ⁠⁠Weir - loan?
15. ⁠Mitoma
16. ⁠Peupion - loan/transfer?
17. ⁠Wieffer
18. ⁠Pedro
19. ⁠Welbeck
20. ⁠Sarmiento
21. ⁠Adingra


Even with 4 more (2002 or older) additions, we’d still be okay in terms of legal squad size without moving anyone else.

Note: That’s assuming Rushworth goes on loan and that Undav, Sima, Gilmour, Dahoud, and Moder move as well.

We have 14 u21s:

1. Cozier-Duberry 2005
2. ⁠Hinshelwood 2005
3. ⁠Mazilu 2005
4. ⁠Yalcouye 2005
5. ⁠Baleba 2004
6. ⁠Barco 2004
7. ⁠Buonanotte 2004
8. ⁠Enciso 2004
9. ⁠Ferguson 2004
10. ⁠Minteh 2004
11. ⁠Osman 2004
12. ⁠Ayari 2003
13. ⁠Moran 2003
14. ⁠Samuels 2003

So, of those 35 combined remaining, the question becomes, “how big do you want the total squad to be?” There aren’t many among this group of u21 eligible guys that I’d expect to play with the u21s, so that makes it necessary to loan more of them. If you assume 5 of the 21 over 21s go on loan or transfer out, that’s still 30 total (again without additions of more new signings). From the 14 under-21s, Mazilu, Moran, Samuels, Buonanotte (given rumors) seem most likely to get a loan.

With those moves done, that’s still 26, again, w/out new additions. It would seem like only one of Yalcouye & Ayari would stay, but perhaps both do until Gomez arrives mid-year. Osman & Sarmiento are question marks, whether one or both might go out on loan. Still, those are big squad numbers.

I can’t help but think we might see some unexpected sales.

Last season, we effectively had 25 total at the start of the season (26, if you count Moder) There were others not in the count who were in the match day squad on occasion (BBB, Duffus, O’Mahony, Peupion, Samuels). Here's the 2023-24 official squad list for reference: https://www.premierleague.com/news/3886218

Given all of that, what do y’all think the right squad size is?

Okay. I’m going to try to do this. Adding O’Riley, Hummels, and Kadıoğlu. Cutting the roster to 25 (even though it’s not a requirement) just as an exercise.

2 GK - Verbruggen, Steele
5 CB - Dunk, Van Hecke, Hummels*, Igor, Webster
2 LB - Barco, Estupiñán
2 RB - Kadıoğlu*, Hinshelwood
4 CM - Wieffer, Baleba, O'Riley*, Milner
2 CAM - Enciso, Sarmiento
3 RW - Minteh, March, Cozier-Duberry
2 LW - Mitoma, Adingra
3 ST - Pedro, Ferguson, Welbeck

Not in there: Buonanotte, Osman, Ayari, Yalcouye, Lamptey, Veltman, Undav, Gilmour, Moder, Dahoud, Sima, Rushworth, Mazilu, Peupion, Moran, Weir, Offiah, Turns, Samuels

I'm really curious as to everyone’s thoughts about this. It’s hard to imagine all of these guys not in the squad. But, keeping more either means a very big squad or moving other players listed in the squad. If there's someone you'd demand we keep from this list, I'd love to hear who you'd move out or if you'd just want the extra player (despite knowing every addition just means fewer minutes for someone else). With that said, I think a case could be made for some additional sales of a player or two in the 25 to make room for a player or two in the list of those not included. I don't think my list of 25 is perfect; it's just a version (and the 25 number itself is arbitrary).

Again, that was really just me thinking out loud & doing my best to piece together what I’ve seen in the first 3 friendlies & what I’ve heard about likely loans & transfers. Obviously, there could be other additions, like Rutter or Gruda, who would change things.

A big takeaway for me, looking at the list of 25 above, is how much more positional interchangeability we’d have compared to last season, especially after the (theoretical) additions of Kadıoğlu & O’Riley. I’d be pleased w/that & it would suit Hürzeler’s system. Also, alongside the (presumed) January addition of Gomez (6'1'), Wieffer (6'3") and (again, presumably) O'Riley (6'2") would give us a much taller midfield group. Hummels, also known for being a formidable figure would add an additional big presence at the back. In addition to being better winning the ball in the air in the midfield, having so many bigger bodies should help in both attacking and defensive set pieces. Last year, Brighton was the shortest team in the PL and our set piece struggles are widely known and discussed. I'm thrilled that it looks like we'll move way up those rankings this season.

I welcome your thoughts in reply, on both what I've shared here as well as any ideas you have about the squad.

Again, I hope it was as helpful for some of you to see this written down as it was for me to write it out, if only so I wasn't trying to sort it all out in my head. If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on the squad! Cheers; Up the Albion!

 

[chaileyjem]

Again, I hope it was as helpful for some of you to see this written down as it was for me to write it out,

Terrific summary. Thanks @Dagan

 

[chaileyjem]

Sky Germany now reporting that Undav to Stuttgart deal is DONE - 30m Euros + add ons.