Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yasin Ayari does not hold back as he discusses the year he spent on loan in the Championship with Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers.
“Total s***,” Ayari says of his spells in the second tier, though they proved invaluable in the Swedish international’s development, becoming an established Premier League central midfielder for Brighton’s head coach Fabian Hurzeler.
“When people ask me why is it going so well, I always remind them that this loan spell was the main factor,” says the 22-year-old, who switched mid-season from Coventry to Blackburn in 2023-24. “Because I went through difficult times.
“The only thing you can do to get through it is to come up on top. When it goes bad, it can not only go down, down, down. Sometimes it has to go upwards and you have to be ready when the opportunity comes.”
Ayari is sitting in an office in the media suite at Brighton’s training headquarters in Lancing for an exclusive interview with The Athletic as he discusses his career since a £6million move from Swedish side AIK in January 2023.
The initial intention was to send Ayari out on loan immediately, but former head coach Roberto De Zerbi preferred to keep him in house so that he could watch and learn in close proximity.
Ayari had a ringside seat for a memorable few months, training with the squad and making occasional appearances — mainly from the bench — as Brighton finished sixth to qualify for Europe for the first time in that 2022-23 season.
While they embarked on a Europa League campaign, reaching the last 16 of the competition, Ayari spent the entire 2023-24 season on loan in the Championship.
It was only supposed to be with one club, but his loan to Coventry was cut short that January due to a lack of game time, after six starts and seven substitute appearances under Mark Robins.
Yasin Ayari playing in the Championship for Coventry City in October 2023 (Jess Hornby/Getty Images)
“Loans have a bad reputation in Sweden,” Ayari says. “It’s like you are not good enough. So, when I went on loan, I already had in my mind that I needed to prove everyone wrong.
“It’s a good mindset to have, but also you need to be grounded, to stay focused and do your thing. I think I went into the loan in a bad way mentally, thinking I’m in the Premier League, coming to the Championship.
“I didn’t know how demanding it was, even more demanding sometimes than the Premier League. In the beginning, it was OK at Coventry, but towards the middle of that period, I didn’t touch the pitch.
“Even though I didn’t play (much), I felt so sad, because I loved the boys, I loved the environment. I was so happy getting to know the people, getting this experience to not have a good loan spell, to learn a lot about the Championship, how physical, how demanding it is, playing every week so many games.
“I needed to switch because I needed to play. It doesn’t matter how comfortable you are in the team. If you don’t play, it doesn’t make sense.”
Moving to Blackburn to play under future Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson ticked boxes but, just over a month after Ayari joined, Tomasson was sacked and replaced by John Eustace.
“I went there with another mindset, just to be present, to make sure I do everything right,” Ayari says. “And training was all good. It was more that the environment at the club wasn’t so good, a lot of changes, a lot of turbulence.
“So, it’s hard to just focus on football. And then, when the new manager came, typical Championship you know, long balls. I like him (Eustace) as a person, but it was not my type of playing style.
“The funny thing is, I think I performed better there (than at Coventry). But mentally I was thinking, ‘I just want to get this loan over with, go on holiday and focus on next season, because this year has been s***’”.
Yasin Ayari playing in the FA Cup for Blackburn Rovers in February 2024 (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Ayari encountered another change of coach on his return to Brighton, Hurzeler having replaced De Zerbi following the Italian’s departure by mutual consent. As much as Ayari loved his time with De Zerbi, on this occasion the change — prompted by differences between De Zerbi and the club about recruitment policy — worked to his advantage.
Ayari remembers the first training session under Hurzeler after the German’s appointment in June 2024. “It was intense,” he says, “but there were a lot of people, because everyone is coming back from loans.
“It’s a big squad and not everyone can train together. You kind of understand a little bit who is going to be in the squad. In that period, I was in and out. I came from being on loan, so it’s normal to be a little bit on the side and then work your way in.
“But I knew after the loan when I was on holiday — I went to Mauritius — I put it in my mind that I would play in this team next season, for sure. I trained twice as hard as everybody else, I can bet anything you want on that.
“I came back prepared. I was sad that Roberto left, because I admired him as a coach a lot. He helped me. He changed the football at Brighton.
“He’s going to stay in the history of Brighton, for sure. But I knew that when a new coach comes, everyone starts from zero. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been before.
“I came back and I already had in my mind that I would do everything to stay in this team, because I want to play in the Premier League and with Brighton.”
It has been that way since Hurzeler took charge. Ayari featured in 34 of 38 league games last season, including 22 starts, a total number of appearances equalled only by Carlos Baleba amongst midfielders in the squad.
It has been a similar story this season. Ayari moved ahead of Baleba — currently on AFCON duty with Cameroon — by making his 20th appearance of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Burnley, a game in which he scored the second goal.
Yasin Ayari celebrates scoring for Brighton against Spurs in September (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
“Both want to play with the ball, which I like,” Ayari says of the approaches of Hurzeler and De Zerbi. “That’s my type of football. And then you have Fabian who came from Bundesliga and the German mindset of always pressing, always running, always playing hard. So, it’s a mix of them both.
“If you ask my wife, I think she would say that I’ve grown a lot. But I can feel it as well. Even in training, in the game, I feel more comfortable. I believe in myself more. I just feel at home. In the beginning, when I was on loan, it was a strange feeling. Because it’s something new. New environment, new people, new tactics. Everything is new.
“It’s the biggest league in the world. You always want to make sure you please everyone. You want everyone to see that you’re a good football player. I think now I’m very comfortable.
“I know how good I am. I know that people around me know how good I am. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be playing. So now I’m just so comfortable. Letting everything flow. Just playing, doing what I love.”
One of the main features of Ayari’s style is how relaxed he is on the ball, showing composure in possession even when closely marked. Slightly built and technically gifted, he readily drops deep to collect a pass from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to progress the play.
“I think it’s just something that comes naturally to me,” Ayari says. “I think it’s hard to train composure, because either you have it or you don’t. I’m always that kind of player that always wants the ball.
“If I don’t have the ball in the game, I feel lost. I don’t know what to do. I always want to show for the ball, even in tight spaces. You just need to have the confidence, the belief, the personality to know that you can solve everything.”
Ayari scores his third goal of the season in Saturday’s win over Burnley (Glyn Kirk/Getty Images)
Ayari’s family have been hugely influential in his journey. His Tunisian father went to Sweden to pursue a career as a winger and No 10. That did not work out, but he was coaching his son at a local club, Rasunda, when Ayari scored for them against AIK. They spotted his potential and took him on as an eight-year-old.
Ayari’s Moroccan mother works for AIK behind the scenes and his 20-year-old brother, Taha, plays for the Stockholm-based club as a winger. “Even when I was in my mum’s stomach, I was always kicking her,” Ayari says.
“They (parents) always tell me (that). And since the beginning, even the first month before I could even stand on my feet, I was having a ball by my side always. So, since the first day I came into this world, football has been the only thing in my head. Nothing else.”
A natural-born footballer, Ayari has ridden the bumps to strut his stuff in the toughest league in the world.