[Albion] This summer’s squad rebuild

[Not Andy Naylor]

Like many on here, my main concern is bloated squad size and players unhappy not to be getting minutes. I have to assume that there will be sales, and the positions of the players coming in make me think that Adingra, Enciso and perhaps Joao Pedro might have to be on their way.

My other worry is squad imbalance. We've strengthened in positions where I don't believe many of us thought we needed to, with only Wiefer addressing a major weakness. If we could somehow jettison Dahoud and sell Igor and get in another defensive midfielder and left-footed centre back I'd be very happy, but I'll be even happier if Baleba can prove his worth as a new Bissouma (without all the off-field distractions).

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Like many on here, my main concern is bloated squad size and players unhappy not to be getting minutes. I have to assume that there will be sales, and the positions of the players coming in make me think that Adingra, Enciso and perhaps Joao Pedro might have to be on their way.

My other worry is squad imbalance. We've strengthened in positions where I don't believe many of us thought we needed to, with only Wiefer addressing a major weakness. If we could somehow jettison Dahoud and sell Igor and get in another defensive midfielder and left-footed centre back I'd be very happy, but I'll be even happier if Baleba can prove his worth as a new Bissouma (without all the off-field distractions).

I agree with a lot of this. I'd be amazed if we released Joao Pedro and Enciso. They are part of the crown jewels and play predominantly from the left. Adingra however, whilst a really good player, tends to come in from the right and we have muscled up there substantially. Also, when you compare his spider chart to Minteh (shown on this video - about 12 minutes in ), he is behind on every metric (all be it Minteh wasn't operating in the Prem). Adingra could go - and we'd make a decent profit on him (he cost £7m I think).

I get a strange feeling. A couple of weeks ago Adingra was the future of the Albion and one we were pinningour hopes on to have a break out season. Now I'm thinking, we probably won't miss him. Wow, things have moved quickly. We'll see a lot of players moved on in the next fortnight I suspect.

As for the defenders. I totally agree. Baleba will step up, I'm sure. But we feel a CD and a right back light. But it seems we're looking for those too.

 

[Silverhatch]

TB and Barber have always gone after value. A case of sell high, buy low.
FFP & PSR has led to a number of teams having to sell to balance the books, also clubs are generally short of cash at the moment. This was obvious from the January window so waiting for the summer made perfect sense.
For instance, NUFC only sold Minteh because they had to. In a normal window we would have had intense competition for his signature. Similarly Gruda would have had many suitors for his signature.

For TB it’s always been about value.

We wanted Minteh before the Geordies. They got in first. The PSR ‘opportunity’ cost us £20m. Agents have cottoned on to the Brighton premium. It’s going to cost us more to get the gems now.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

We wanted Minteh before the Geordies. They got in first. The PSR ‘opportunity’ cost us £20m. Agents have cottoned on to the Brighton premium. It’s going to cost us more to get the gems now.

The premium is based upon the market. Higher the market, the higher the premium.
We missed out on minteh because NUFC had more money and clout. We have gone from not being able to buy, to being able to buy.

 

[Milano]

I have had a feeling for a while that Enciso might go. Based on nothing really. He is a VERY good player but he also comes across as being all about himself. When he returned from injury it looked like he was trying to recreate the City goal from literally everywhere. I do wonder how impressed our senior management would have been with his approach to the Olympics after he'd been at the Copa. As RDZ found out our board don't like these things aired in the media.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Like many on here, my main concern is bloated squad size and players unhappy not to be getting minutes. I have to assume that there will be sales, and the positions of the players coming in make me think that Adingra, Enciso and perhaps Joao Pedro might have to be on their way.

My other worry is squad imbalance. We've strengthened in positions where I don't believe many of us thought we needed to, with only Wiefer addressing a major weakness. If we could somehow jettison Dahoud and sell Igor and get in another defensive midfielder and left-footed centre back I'd be very happy, but I'll be even happier if Baleba can prove his worth as a new Bissouma (without all the off-field distractions).

Agree with a lot of this. In theory, we could play Enciso, Pedro or Rutter (and not forgetting Buonotte is on loan) at 10, yet our options in other areas are limited. CM is very light. Injuries to Dunk / Van Hecke could cost us. We are a Welbeck injury from not having a number 9 given Ferguson is injured albeit back soon.

I'm sure everyone knows what they are doing but I do scratch my head and wonder how this will all work in practice. Surely, the exit door will whirl at some point?

 

[Napper]

Found it very strange that after all the players in and a new balance to the squad and team, We then go and start a CM at LB at Everton.

We need another CM and defence needs 1 or 2

 

[Nobby]

Not sure how many times I’ve posted this link in recent weeks but it’s more than once - Rutter our record spend to date at around £40m

Brighton & Hove Albion - Transfers 24/25 (Detailed view)

Transfers: Overview of all signed and sold players of club Brighton for the current season.

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

Thanks Zeb

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

I think our buying what looks like a top heavy squad of attacking players is heavily influenced by the introduction of the 5 substitute rule, plus the development of live in match player tracking, by systems such as Catapult GPS vests.


Defenders aren't as likely to be substituted tactically, and Goalkeepers tend to only be swapped out in game when injured.


So that leaves, between 6 and 7 outfield players, playing in the midfield and attacking areas, who are the focus of those 5 available substitutions.


Hurzeler wants us to play a very high intensity press out of possession and a very quick transition from back to front in possession.


That will put huge strain on our attacking players, so the capacity to switch most of them for fresh players of equal ability mid game, in every match, makes perfect sense.


Consistent intensity for 90 minutes and hopefully fewer injuries will theoretically give us more than just a marginal gain.

 

[Triggaaar]

Think it is more the fact that a several of players that we were monitoring all became available at the same time plus the added bonus we had the funds.

The club obviously have a list of targets we'd be interested in. I assume we'd want to be able to bring in a couple here and there, but I assumed that if we got a few, we'd then stop. It's surprising that we've got a few, and that hasn't stopped us continuing to get more. We can only play one in each position at a time.

Perhaps the number of injuries has changed our thinking? It'll be interesting if any of our signings doesn't get as much first team action as they're expecting.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I'm really glad we're spending the money we have but the club have sort of been forced into doing so a bit.

The three-year-cycle of PSR is about to die a very quick death in favour of single year, revenue related rules. Because of this, our profit made over the last two summers would essentially be deemed unusable next summer. I think the club have aimed to a) look to break even across the current 3 year PSR cycle, and b) not dramatically increase wage revenue. They're doing it by taking a step forward and signing the known wonderkids rather than the hidden gems.

I think we're building something great, and expect from next summer, under the new rules, we'll only see serious incomings if we see serious outgoings in the same season.

Revenue which would be higher if we get to Europe again

 

[BrickTamland]

I think our buying what looks like a top heavy squad of attacking players is heavily influenced by the introduction of the 5 substitute rule, plus the development of live in match player tracking, by systems such as Catapult GPS vests.


Defenders aren't as likely to be substituted tactically, and Goalkeepers tend to only be swapped out in game when injured.


So that leaves, between 6 and 7 outfield players, playing in the midfield and attacking areas, who are the focus of those 5 available substitutions.


Hurzeler wants us to play a very high intensity press out of possession and a very quick transition from back to front in possession.


That will put huge strain on our attacking players, so the capacity to switch most of them for fresh players of equal ability mid game, in every match, makes perfect sense.


Consistent intensity for 90 minutes and hopefully fewer injuries will theoretically give us more than just a marginal gain.

I like this theory.

We are usually ahead of the curve when it comes to rule changes and the sort so this might not be so far fetched

 

[Comrade Sam]

My concern, just from my point of view, is that we're bringing in so many players that I don't recognise the team as 'my team' at the moment; I know that in the wilderness years we'd be getting an influx of loanees and journeymen every season, but this feels different. OK, hopefully in time I'll get used to the new team - guess they'll probably be a departure or two of players I don't want to see going though. C'est la vie, I suppose.
My second concern is the players we're bringing in - are we now buying them at their peak value? Up to now, our main recruitment has been players for about £10M or less and selling them on for upwards of £25M - sometimes a lot above £25M! But now, say £25M for O'Riley - Celtic bought him cheap as chips from MK Dons and will make a huge profit - but will his value increase, or is £25M about his peak? £40M for Rutter (!) - here it was Hoffenheim who 'did a Brighton' and made a huge profit - his value didn't increase much in his time at Leeds. Will we be able to sell him in a couple of years for £80M? I'm not sure - maybe with the new rules the days of ever-increasing transfer fees may be coming to an end.
Am I wrong? - well, I know I'm a born worrier, so maybe! No need for a lecture - I won't stop worrying or change my mind!

Did you feel like it was no longer your team when Lloyd brought in a whole new squad - Nelson, Bremner, Rougvie, Dublin, Isaac's etc. Or Mickey Adams squad overhaul, or when Bruno, Bridge etc? I always find this kind of thing unbelievably exciting and my obsession will soon have me rattling off the whole squad to any poor sod that mentions football to me.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Article in the “i“ this morning sadly put us in the same bracket as Man City and Chelsea for accumulating players and profiting on them. £40m on one player seems a bit weird for us. I don’t like challenging what TB and Barber are up to but I just hope that we don’t trip over our own feet.

 

[Safe.]

I think our buying what looks like a top heavy squad of attacking players is heavily influenced by the introduction of the 5 substitute rule, plus the development of live in match player tracking, by systems such as Catapult GPS vests.


Defenders aren't as likely to be substituted tactically, and Goalkeepers tend to only be swapped out in game when injured.


So that leaves, between 6 and 7 outfield players, playing in the midfield and attacking areas, who are the focus of those 5 available substitutions.


Hurzeler wants us to play a very high intensity press out of possession and a very quick transition from back to front in possession.


That will put huge strain on our attacking players, so the capacity to switch most of them for fresh players of equal ability mid game, in every match, makes perfect sense.


Consistent intensity for 90 minutes and hopefully fewer injuries will theoretically give us more than just a marginal gain.

Agreed, it's clear the press is a major component of our game as was anticipated.

It's most definitely a squad game if you want to play that football for a full season.

 

[Bakero]

Article in the “i“ this morning sadly put us in the same bracket as Man City and Chelsea for accumulating players and profiting on them. £40m on one player seems a bit weird for us. I don’t like challenging what TB and Barber are up to but I just hope that we don’t trip over our own feet.

Which article? This one? https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/...tegy-raheem-sterling-3234869?ico=most_popular

 

[Beanstalk]

Revenue which would be higher if we get to Europe again

100%!

Last year's run made around €11m in prize money alone, and I think I remember reading that including TV money, we pulled in around €21m in revenue from UEFA (don't quote me on this as I may have misremembered). It's about an additional 10% to our allowed budget essentially - hefty.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Which article? This one? https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/...tegy-raheem-sterling-3234869?ico=most_popular

Yes, they call it a ”model”.

 

[Justice]

Article in the “i“ this morning sadly put us in the same bracket as Man City and Chelsea for accumulating players and profiting on them. £40m on one player seems a bit weird for us. I don’t like challenging what TB and Barber are up to but I just hope that we don’t trip over our own feet.

Why sadly? That’s why TB invested £200m into the academy. Some players won’t make a first team appearance and be sold for profit.

 

[GT49er]

Did you feel like it was no longer your team when Lloyd brought in a whole new squad - Nelson, Bremner, Rougvie, Dublin, Isaac's etc. Or Mickey Adams squad overhaul, or when Bruno, Bridge etc? I always find this kind of thing unbelievably exciting and my obsession will soon have me rattling off the whole squad to any poor sod that mentions football to me.

Did you not read my second sentence?