Sending young players out on loan is always a question of determining whether their development is best served by staying put or going elsewhere.
Brighton & Hove Albion have weighed up the pros and cons, but they may have left themselves riskily short of natural width for the rest of the season with two outgoing deals in the closing stages of the January transfer window.
Brajan Gruda has returned to Germany, joining RB Leipzig for the rest of the campaign, while Tommy Watson has gone back into the Championship with promotion contenders Millwall.
Gruda’s move, announced first thing on the final day of trading on Monday, is more of a surprise than Watson’s switch a day earlier, given their different situations and respective number of Premier League appearances under Fabian Hurzeler. Gruda has played 39 league matches since a £25million move from Mainz in August 2024, while Watson has been restricted to just six substitute outings following a £10m move from Sunderland in June 2025.
So, why has Gruda been let go after playing a part in 12 successive matches between early October and mid-January? An explanation came via a quote from Hurzeler in the club statement announcing Gruda’s exit. “Brajan wants regular football, and we are not able to guarantee him that in the second half of the season, so this loan represents a good move for all parties,” Hurzeler said of the departure of his countryman.
Gruda’s performances have not been at a level that would entitle him to expect to be a regular starter (10 of 18 league appearances this season have been as a substitute). As is often the case with young players, particularly those getting to grips with a new league, he blows hot and cold. The inconsistency was encapsulated by Gruda producing a goal and an assist in his best game for the club in the 2-1 win at Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup in January, then getting hooked by Hurzeler after 66 ineffective minutes next time out in a 1-1 home draw against Bournemouth.
Gruda impressed during Brighton’s recent FA Cup win at Old Trafford (Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)
Gruda is second choice behind Yankuba Minteh on the right wing — which is where he plays for Germany Under-21s. Hurzeler has several options for Gruda’s other position as the No 10 — Pascal Gross, Georginio Rutter, Diego Gomez, Charalampos Kostoulas and Matt O’Riley, who is back from a curtailed season-long loan at Marseille.
The risk is that Minteh only returned recently from three matches out with a thigh injury and he was not fit enough to start against Everton. The only other players who could be classed as natural right wingers are inexperienced academy teenagers Harry Howell and Nehemiah Oriola, with a combined total game time in the Premier League of seven minutes.
Rutter has been used on the right flank, but he disappointed in that position against Everton. Gomez has played there as well, but he is a multi-tasker, not a specialist. Long-serving Solly March, another alternative, is still on his way back from a second major knee injury. The 31-year-old has been limited to 20 outings in two and a half seasons.
Hurzeler could have kept hold of Gruda, but rather than having a player frustrated by a potential lack of minutes, he has been allowed to link up with Leipzig, where he will wear the No. 10 shirt, competing for a place in their 4-3-3 system. They have suffered injury problems in the forward line — Johan Bakayoko and Antonio Nusa have both been out for periods, while Timo Werner was sold to MLS side San Jose Earthquakes in the closing days of the January window.
Gruda was a target for Leipzig when he signed for Brighton. “We’ve had him on our radar for several years and would have liked to bring him to Leipzig in 2024,” managing director Marcel Schafer said of Gruda’s arrival on the club website. “We stayed in touch after that too, so we’re all the more pleased to have him here now, even if it’s initially only a loan. We see Brajan as a No 8 or No 10, where he gives us even more options.”
This is also a World Cup year and young international players can be driven by that carrot (Diego Coppola’s loan move from Brighton to Paris FC in January had a lot to do with the central defender’s desire to force his way into Italy’s World Cup squad if they qualify via the Europe play-offs).
Gruda and Coppola both wanted more first-team action in the second half of the season (Richard Martin-Roberts/Getty Images)
Gruda has similar aspirations with Germany, according to a source granted anonymity by The Athletic, albeit that he is yet to make an appearance at senior level. “I really wanted to join RB Leipzig as soon as it became clear a winter move was possible for me,” he said. “RBL are a top club in Germany, and the playing style suits me perfectly.
“There has been regular contact between RB Leipzig and me over the years. That gives me a good feeling and shows that the club and the management believe in me and really want me in the team. That makes me even happier to be here now.
“I feel in top shape, I already know many of my new teammates from the national team and the Bundesliga, and I want to help take RB Leipzig back into Europe. I can’t wait to get out on the pitch with the lads and get started. Of course, I wish Albion every success for the rest of the season!”
That afterthought mention by Gruda of his parent club and Schafer’s remarks hint at a possibility of the move becoming permanent, although the deal is just a straight loan for now. It gives Brighton the opportunity to reassess the situation with Gruda in the summer, when he will have two years left on his contract.
The lack of natural cover for Minteh on the right is mirrored on the left after Watson’s departure, although Hurzeler clearly does not regard the 19-year-old as ready yet in this phase of his development for regular Premier League action. Otherwise, he would have used him when Kaoru Mitoma was out between September and December with an ankle injury.
Hurzeler sees the players day in, day out, a factor which has to be taken into consideration in the assessment of what is best for their futures. Watson’s late winner for Sunderland against Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final at Wembley last May catapulted him into the limelight, but it is worth remembering that he had made only 11 second-tier starts in a total of just 24 appearances for his former club when Brighton signed him. His senior career is still in its infancy.
Hurzeler used a combination of Gomez, plus full-backs Maxim De Cuyper and Ferdi Kadioglu, on the left during Mitoma’s absence. Again, that smacks of having to be inventive and making do. If Minteh and Mitoma run into further injury problems, Brighton will look lightweight as a wide threat to opponents.