Brighton spent the best part of £50m on recruitment this summer. With the season just six games old, how are the summer signings looking? We, at The 4th Official, have a look.
David Button
The goalkeeper has found game-time extremely limited with Matthew Ryan being the number one keeper for Brighton. Button is yet to feature in the Premier League but has appeared in the Carabao Cup against Southampton.
In the game against the Saints, he played well, making some good saves to deny Southampton on the day. His kicking during the match was excellent, maybe even better than Ryan regarding keeping his kicks in play.
Button may have to be patient and bide his time to get his first Premier League appearance as when Ryan heads to the Asia Cup to play for Australia in January; Button would fill in for the month. And if Button impresses, he may leave Ryan struggling to get back in the team.
Martin Montoya
Montoya joined the Seagulls on deadline day from Valencia for a fee of around £5 million, and so far he is proving himself to be worth every penny. Since joining he has started every game for Brighton and has looked a shrewd and worthwhile purchase.
Montoya is calm on the ball and very comfortable with the ball at his feet. He also has the Cazorla flair on him with the ability to skillfully get the ball out of trouble or to get past the opposition.
Montoya is also very good at getting up and down the wing and putting good deliveries into the box. He also has quite a lethal shot on him, which he displayed at The Amex when he blazed the ball wide against Manchester United on the volley.
Leon Balogun
Balogun like Button has failed to get a lot of game-time due to the solid partnership between Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy. The only time he has been able to break into the side was when Dunk picked up an injury early into the United game and was then not available for the Liverpool game.
During the two games he featured in, Balogun displayed how good he was. He was very quick and experienced as during the United game, he knew he would struggle to compete with Romelu Lukaku for strength. So he decided to use his pace to nip in front of Lukaku and get the ball.
Balogun also showed how good he was in the air winning every header he went up for in that match. Balogun also is a full-blooded defender as he displayed in the Liverpool match when he went charging in to get the ball against James Milner and although Balogun did not time it well, the intent to go in and get the ball was there.
Bernardo
The Brazilian full-back has also struggled to get game-time. After starting most of the pre-season games and Brighton’s first Premier League game, he has struggled to get more time on the pitch. This is due to how impressive Gaetan Bong has been at the left-back role after coming in for Bernardo for the United game.
Bernardo like Button appeared in the Carabao Cup game against Southampton and played as the centre-half. He did well in there, but the only concern is how one-footed he is. Bernardo is left-footed, and during that ninety minutes, he did not touch the ball with his right foot even once.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Brighton’s record signing has been limited to substitute appearances so far this season. This is partly due to the fact he needs time to adapt to the English game and secondly due to the form of Anthony Knockaert.
When Jahanbakhsh has come off the bench, he has looked imposing. He seems very quick and also looks good defensively. He went close to scoring his first Albion goal on Monday against Southampton when his flicked effort inside the box hit the post. He also got some minutes against Tottenham coming on as a second-half substitute. Jahanbakhsh looked lively and was keen to get Brighton on the front foot and get at least a goal back.
Yves Bissouma
The £15m signing has seen slightly more game time and has looked like a great signing. Bissouma is young at 21 and has the potential to be a great player for Albion.
Bissouma has good pace and skill. Also during the pre-season, he displayed his strength from free-kicks, with a thunderbolt just outside the box against Birmingham City.
With Pascal Gross out recently, he has had the chance to show what he can do and hopefully, he can kick on and show why Brighton paid such a significant sum for the Mali international. However, against Tottenham, Bissouma had a poor game as he gave the ball away numerous times and did not make driving runs like he usually does.
Florin Andone
Then we come to Brighton’s final summer signing, who is suffering from injury since joining. He is yet to feature in the Premier League. However, fans did get the chance to catch a glimpse of him in action for the Under 23’s against West Ham, and from that game, he certainly impressed.
For a player who is just under six foot, Andone is very good in the air. He also is solid and can hold up the ball well. Andone also showed that he is quite quick and looked threatening during the 45 minutes he played. He may be available to make the squad against Tottenham Hotspur if he is fit enough. One thing is for sure, most of Brighton’s summer recruits have looked good, and it all looks very promising so early on in the season.
