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Writer's pictureTristan Figueras

Why Every Club Envies Brighton

Hello everyone and welcome back to Early Doors Football! It has been quite the sabbatical from writing, but it is wonderful to start up again. These past couple of months have been extremely busy on all fronts, so I simply did not have the bandwidth to put time into researching and writing here. With the summer now upon me, I will be more consistent with articles. I am planning on having 1 or 2 per month, but there will undoubtedly be some variation.

With the administrative stuff out of the way, let’s get into today’s topic: Brighton’s incredible recruitment. It has been no secret that they have incredible talent identification and a strong scouting network, but it has truly come to center stage with their incredible Premier League campaign. This record-breaking campaign as a club comes after they had their head coach and a large portion of his backroom staff ripped from them midseason; perfectly illustrating their stable structure even outside of players and coaching staff.


I’m going to take a look behind the curtain at their strategy and methods, as well as how the experiences of some of their current staff have shaped their club-wide philosophy. Brighton have quickly become one of the marquee youth development clubs in Europe, so let's take a look how.


Scouting Approach


What does Kawasaki Frontale, Nordsjaelland, Libertad, and Rosario Central have in common? Absolutely nothing, other than Brighton have signed players from all these clubs. They favor no region, leaving no stone unturned. It sounds absurdly difficult to cover such a vast amount of players with such a scattergun approach; but that is if you only look on the surface. Tony Bloom, the club’s owner and chairman, also owns a gambling consultancy “describes itself as a betting consultancy that uses complex statistical models to generate football odds that are sharper than those offered by professional bookmakers” (UK Finance). This not only gives them access to a vast amount of data, but an algorithm used to source potential signings. This algorithm “is a secret, kept even from those inside the club” (The Athletic). We can start to see how Brighton are sharper than the competition already. While in this day and age, it is common practice to incorporate data into scouting, they use this as an early filter prior to watching players. This gives them the opportunity to create shortlists of players across the globe before even watching a game.


Outside of players, it is clear that they have used this data to target coaches as well. It is almost a guarantee they had their eyes on Graham Potter well during his time in Sweden, and surely had a shortlist of replacements for when he inevitably left. They’ve had two brilliant appointments on the bounce now, with Roberto De Zerbi taking the team to new heights despite his work beginning midseason. He’s revolutionized this side and changed the way the league approaches matches. Pep Guardiola even stated, “We’ve an Italian coach in Premier League, De Zerbi… he’s changing many things in the English football. He’s producing wonderful football” in an interview prior to his clash with Brighton. Once the Italian is snapped up by a huge club, there is no doubt they already have an idea of potential replacements.


Something else that Brighton have pioneered, is the idea of positional scouts as opposed to regional scouts. For example, they appointed John Doolan from Everton as their center-forward scout recently. Having their scouts focus on positions gives them the opportunity to bring in specialized individuals (or allow scouts to specialize) to target positions. It's ingenious really; if you can bring someone in that has played as a forward, they will have that sixth sense of a forward’s ability. They’ve been in their shoes, so they can better understand the intricacies of the position.


Integration and Sustainability


Everything Brighton does centers around planning for the future. They rarely target players that are already the finished product. Even when signings can slot straight into the first team setup, they consistently make cameo appearances before starting regularly. Furthermore, we often see players go out on loan prior to playing minutes for Brighton.


For example, Kaoru Mitoma, one of the most electric players of this season, was loaned to Union St. Gilloise (whom Tony Bloom also owns a stake in). He saw regular first team minutes there, and was a key to their second place finish. Ivorian winger Simon Adingra is following that same path, so look out for him next season. Brighton obviously cannot compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool financially, so they are looking to secure these incredible youth talents before they come onto the juggernaut’s radar. They sit at the right level where one or two loans at most can develop the players to a level where they can challenge for a starting role at their parent club. This is enticing to youth players, as they can showcase their talent on the Premier League stage extremely quickly, as opposed to being sent out on handfuls of loans if they were to sign for a (traditional) top six side.


As mentioned, Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra underwent this loan process, but superstars Moises Caicedo and Alexis MacAllister have also had this development pathway. The midfield pairing were signed from South America for a combined $13 million, and with both linked with moves away this summer, Brighton could 10x their investment.


The beauty of their system, is that they will be prepared for these departures. They understand their role in the football ecosystem, and welcome it with open arms. Players like Billy Gilmour, Yasin Ayari, and Facundo Buononatte are already in the pipeline to step in next season. It is worth noting that there is always the possibility the players do not work out; just like any other club, they have had projects fail. The silver lining is that, considering the transfer fees are usually sub $10 million, they can typically break-even or even profit on the young players. The clout the Premier League has across the globe means that these players are often given second chances in other leagues, leaving Brighton ample opportunities to move these players on. Essentially, Brighton are always ready for their players to make big-money moves away. Their incredible talent identification means they have multiple players ready to step into the vacancy left when developing players are snatched away. Whereas a major player leaving a mid-low table side may lead to a significantly reduced points-output, Brighton welcome this change with open arms and are eager to showcase yet another budding talent from their arsenal. Strategy Change? The Seagulls always get their business done early, and they’ve done just that for the upcoming summer window. You’d expect them to have picked up a couple youngsters from South America, or maybe a kid from Scandinavia, but it is quite the opposite. They’ve broken their club transfer record by roughly $10 million on Joao Pedro from Watford, and signed free agents James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud. Joao Pedro still fits their idea of planning for the future, as he is only 21 and has quite a few matches under his belt, but the two free agents do not seem to follow their philosophy. While Dahoud, age 27, could perhaps grow into a more refined player than he is currently (not to say he is a poor player), he is outside of their targeted age profile. James Milner, certainly is a short-term solution to whatever problem they envision him solving, as he is 37. Both the free agents are central midfielders, which would further lead you to believe that Caicedo and MacAllister have one foot out the door, but we would usually see a young player return from loan or an already-established player given an increased responsibility. Milner is known as a handyman, someone who can step in and do a job in many positions, so maybe that will become his primary role. It remains to be seen how they will reinvest the massive amounts they will bring in from outgoings this summer, but the first few signings may signal a slight change in philosophy. I am sure the core ideas will still be there, but perhaps they may look towards more established players in order to bring the club to the next level. Despite this potential shift, we are sure to still be treated to brilliant football from the Seagulls. De Zerbi will have months to hone his tactical ideas, and add exciting young players into the mix. Brighton have become everyone’s second favorite team, but that may not be the case for long as they are sure to ruffle the feathers of the traditional Big 6 for seasons to come.


That is all for this article! It was lovely to look deep into Brighton and see how they’ve found success since their promotion into the Premier League. They have provided some of the most entertaining and enthralling football on the planet, so I cannot wait to see how they develop further, both from a team level, and the individual level. I am sure some of the next superstars are already within their ranks, ready to burst onto the scene. Thank you so much for reading, and it is great to be back. Have a wonderful rest of your day.


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