Brighton push for £40m Man Utd target evidence of transfer hubris to match status under De Zerbi

Brighton are now shopping in the same pool as Manchester United as a change to their transfer strategy echoes their extraordinary progress on the pitch. 

Towards the end of last season we made a plea to the Premier League elite to leave Brighton be. We were desperate to see what they could achieve if they managed to retain the players linked with bigger and theoretically better things. But alas, we were either ignored or remained curiously off the Big Six radar. Alexis Mac Allister has gone to Liverpool and Moises Caicedo looks certain to leave for Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or one of the other top-flight bully boys.

But Kauro Mitoma, Pervis Estupinan, Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso all look likely to stay for another year at least and Brighton’s moves in the transfer market this summer – like those players’ desire to remain – echo their progress on the pitch.

41 points in 2020/21 became 52 in 2021/22 and and then 2022/23 brought 62 and a Europa League spot. A now-customary improvement in 2023/24 would likely see them qualify for the Champions League, and while the arrival of an inevitable gem or three from loan spells away or plucked from the streets of some backwater Peruvian village may help them make that next step, their status now allows them to shop in a higher tier. They can mould talent rather than just mine it.

Mahmoud Dahoud’s inconsistency held him back at Borussia Dortmund, but his free transfer to the Amex is undoubtedly a coup, as his move to Dortmund was in the summer of 2017. Liverpool were at that time vying for his signature and the midfielder has since been linked with both Manchester City and Chelsea.

The fact that a player with such Champions League experience has agreed to join little old Brighton says something in itself, but it’s a club where the quality of the players and manager belies its size. And although their history isn’t anything to write home about, that’s likely of little consequence to prospective signings blinded by a very bright future that matches their sixth-placed finish last season.

The question those players will be asking themselves is whether Brighton’s foray into European competition will be a fleeting one. Dahoud clearly doesn’t believe so, and we’ve got to assume Roberto De Zerbi is having a significant impact on the minds of prospective players. Joao Pedro may not be billed as a marquee signing from Watford, but his club-record arrival at £30m provides further evidence of Brighton’s push into the higher echelons of the transfer market.

And unlike Mac Allister or Caicedo, Brighton aren’t a stepping stone for these players but a landing spot, as they’re now at a level where very good players can join, thrive and stay at the Amex, playing enjoyable football and vying for European and domestic honours while receiving a competitive wage.

Of course, Brighton will remain a stepping stone like every club other than Real Madrid (even Manchester City know their place), but for better, more polished talent like Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus.

Unperturbed by persistent interest in the forward from Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, Brighton are making a push for the 22-year-old. And whether Kudus is tempted by a move to Brighton or not, the mere fact that they’ve thrown their hat into the ring sends a message that they’re now ready to compete for the very best young players in Europe and believe they are an attractive enough prospect to land them.

The trick for Brighton will be to combine this newfound hubris in the transfer market with their tried and tested method of discovering players the bigger clubs either miss or can’t be bothered to scout, because they’ve not only brought some incredibly talented players to the Premier League in the last two or three seasons but have also made a huge amount of money that’s now allowing them to take this next step.

If they can take a little from column A and then a little from column B, that might make one hell of a meal on the south coast. And we may yet see them in the Champions League even without Mac Allister and Caicedo.