Why Brighton have spent big and what the bigger picture looks like

That is the verdict of football finance expert and Seagulls fan Kieran Maguire after a record-breaking window for the club.

Club chairman Tony Bloom has overseen a summer which has seen Albion lead the way in Europe for nett spend.

Maguire sees it as reward for stellar financial performances in recent years and says their nett spend over the last three years is close to zero.

Previous summers saw them receive big fees players including Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Alexis Mac Allister.

Activity in recent months appears to have been a change of direction but Maguire said: “It is still in line with the strategy of previous years.

“I think the difference is they are fishing in a different pool for players with more experience.

“I’m not saying there is a Brighton tax but, if Brighton are looking at your players, you know you have got a good player.

“Their track record in recent years means everyone has got wise to Brighton.”

Albion’s activity has been even more eye-catching given how other clubs have been quite quiet.

Maguire said: “At the very elite end of the Premier League, you have to be a very special player to improve Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool.

“That’s why those clubs have been very quiet.

“It’s not that they are not wanting to recruit.

“It’s just who can they recruit to actually improve?

“You have also got half a dozen clubs - including Everton, Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Newcastle to a certain extent - who have had to tread very carefully and to a certain extent it’s one out and one in.

“Those clubs are having to go with the handbrake on while Brighton can put their foot on the accelerator.

“That is why we have seen different strategies.

“It’s a reward for being a really well-run club.”

Maguire expects Albion to post impressive financial results again for last season following the £124 million profit in 2022-23.

Those 2023-24 numbers will include the nine-figure sale of Caicedo at Chelsea.

Maguire said: “If you are allowed to lose £105 million over three years and you have made a profit of £200 million in two years, it allows you to go into year three and effectively do whatever you want.

“That’s not the Brighton style. Tony Bloom is not that sort of owner.

“But they can afford to spend more money than previously.

“We will see an increase in the wage budget.

“Their wage bill was still very much bottom half of the Premier League.

“I think they will be moving towards the midway point.

“But it will still be below the big six and below the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle, who have got bigger fan bases and who have gone all-in in previous years.”

While the last few weeks have been exciting for Albion fans, it would be no surprise if some were finding it hard to get used to.

Maguire said: “I think as far as the fanbase is concerned, and I can only give anecdotal evidence from people in my WhatsApp groups and people I sit next to in the North Stand and talk to on the concourse, it is ‘In Tony we trust’.

“There is such a high opinion of the owner that, if he thinks the market is in a position where Brighton can buy - and buy players at an age whereby you sign them for four or five years, then you sell them at a profit – they will.

“We have sold Mac Allister and Caicedo but Mitoma is still there.

“If Joao Pedro continues to play as well as he has done, do I expect him to be at Brighton in two years?

“I think there is a 10 per cent chance of that.

“Do I expect him to be at Brighton in 12 months if he scores another 20 goals? It’s probably 50-50.

“But he’s not being sold for £30 million. He is being sold for £60-70 million.

“That is what they are very good at.

“They have what they consider to be an appropriate price for the player and they won’t take a penny less.

“And the great thing is they don’t have to take a penny less because of the strength of the finances.”