Brighton & Hove Albion behaved abnormally during the 2024 summer transfer window. Their business is usually more measured than a £200million ($268m) splurge on nine new signings.
The big spend was sanctioned as a one-off by owner-chairman Tony Bloom for three main reasons: to bolster the squad after major sales in previous summers, to capitalise on the headroom their prudence had provided under the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and to give then newly-appointed head coach Fabian Hurzeler strength in depth to compete for European qualification and domestic silverware.
It is still too soon to cast definitive judgments on the scale of trading that summer — it was the main reason for the club announcing a £54.4m ($72.9m) loss on Friday for the 2024-25 season following bumper profits in previous years.
But, as is so often the case with Brighton and the way they operate under Bloom, deals were done with the short-, medium- and long-term future in mind. The evidence that the heavy spending is beginning to pay off was given a shot in the arm by Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of Manchester United at Old Trafford in the third round of the FA Cup.
Three of the major buys from two summers ago — Brajan Gruda, Georginio Rutter and Ferdi Kadioglu — played significant roles in the first victory over United in the competition in seven attempts (the previous six were all defeats).
Gruda gave Hurzeler’s side a 12th-minute lead from the rebound after Rutter’s header from Danny Welbeck’s cross had been cleared off the line by Lisandro Martinez. Gruda also produced the assist for Welbeck’s 64th-minute strike against his boyhood club, while Kadioglu continued his impressive run of form in defence.
Gruda, bought from Mainz for £25m, is 21 years old and remains a work in progress. An elusive dribbling force at his best, sloppy and lightweight at his worst, he impressed on the right flank. That is his best position for Germany’s under-21s, but the role has been dominated by Yankuba Minteh, and Gruda has often been used instead as a No 10 by Hurzeler.
Rutter, the club’s record £40m buy from Leeds United, was an instant hit last season with insatiable work rate and marauding runs until an ankle injury ruled him out from March for the rest of the campaign. The 23-year-old Frenchman’s absence was a contributor to Hurzeler’s side missing out on Europe by finishing eighth.
Rutter has disappointed for the most part so far this season, but there are signs he is building momentum again when he plays as the No 10. That is where he is most effective (rather than as the No 9). He played at Old Trafford behind Welbeck, a well-proven combination.
Rutter played an important role in the victory at Manchester United (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Kadioglu is starting to show why the club invested £25m to land the Dutch-born Turkish international from Fenerbahce. The 26-year-old missed most of his debut campaign at the club, following a promising opening, due to a toe injury which required surgery.
Hurzeler is benefiting from Kadioglu’s energy and dexterity. Kadioglu was restored to his main position as an adventurous left-back against United as he completed 90 minutes for the seventh match in succession. Four days earlier he was effective on the right flank in the 1-1 league draw at Manchester City.
What of the other main signings in that unprecedented summer of 2024? Minteh had been one of the best performers so far this season until sustaining a dead leg in the 2-2 draw at West Ham United in the final fixture of 2025. The injury has prevented the 21-year-old Gambian, signed from Newcastle United for £30m, from featuring in the first three games of 2026.
Having Minteh flying down one wing again and Kaoru Mitoma (brought on in the 78th minute at Old Trafford after scoring at City) causing havoc on the left now that the Japan international is on the way back to full fitness following an ankle issue, is an enticing prospect for Hurzeler and a worrying state of affairs for future opponents.
Mats Wieffer, ruled out for the fourth match running by a toe injury, has been reinvented by Hurzeler from a deep-lying midfielder with Feyenoord into a right-back. Whether the positional shift sustains for the 26-year-old Dutchman is another matter, but he has recently shown increasing signs of justifying his £25m purchase.
Matt O’Riley’s £25m move from Celtic as part of the big spend has not worked out so far for the versatile midfielder, who is on loan for the season at Marseille under Hurzeler’s predecessor Roberto De Zerbi. His future probably lies in France or elsewhere.
Speaking of the future, the other three players bought in the summer of 2024 were youngsters for further down the line, with good resale potential if they cannot break through under Hurzeler. Winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, a free transfer from Arsenal, has been thriving on loan at Bolton Wanderers in League One. Midfielder Malick Yalcouye has struggled on loan at Swansea City in the Championship this season after a promising loan with Sturm Graz in Austria last term, but he is only 20. The £6m midfield buy from Swedish side IFK Gothenburg can take inspiration from Yasin Ayari. The Swedish international has become a regular part of Hurzeler’s plans following difficult loans in the second tier with Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers.
Ghana winger Ibrahim Osman, signed from Nordsjaelland in Denmark for £16m, has made a limited impact on loan to Feyenoord in the Netherlands last season and Auxerre in France this season. Osman may end up being sold at a loss — a rare occurrence for the club. Taken as a whole, the huge outlay in 2024 is unlikely to damage Brighton’s reputation as shrewd operators in the transfer market.