Brighton are seeking the services of Ingolstadt left back Markus Suttner according to Sky Sources. Manager Chris Hughton is keen to improve his squad as they prepare for their first season in the Premier League. Having already signed the likes of right-back Josh Kerr from Celtic and goalkeeper Matthew Ryan from Valencia, who will replace David Stockdale as the number one goalie, Brighton are now looking at experienced Austrian left back Markus Suttner in order to add to their defensive build-up.
So why is Chris Hughton so keen to sign this Bundesliga left back?
Well, the answer is pretty simple, the Seagulls really lack players in the fullback department with none of their current crop of fullbacks being deemed as a proper left back. Only Gaetan Bong is an out and out left back while the likes of Bruno and Liam Rosenior all like to start from the right side. So it’s only normal that the Brighton boss is wanting to extend his choice when it comes to picking a proper left back.
However, Markus Suttner is definitely not just ‘a regular left-back’. In fact, Brighton might hit gold if they can successfully land on Suttner this summer. So what’s so special about him?
Suttner has been a regular feature in the Ingolstadt starting lineup ever since they got promoted to the Bundesliga two seasons ago. In those two seasons, the Austrian International has made over 50 appearances for Die Schanzer. Whilst making over 200 appearances for his former club Austria Vienna, so he can’t be deemed as an inexperienced customer.
In the defensively rigid system of FC Ingolstadt, Suttner plays a vital cog in their offensive gameplay, which mainly focuses on trying to hit the opposition on the break, and the main source of their attacks usually comes from wider positions. Suttner in that context, is very important to his side, as he often tries to break down the flow of the opposition and then has the role of feeding his teammates with either crosses or through balls, all of it in just a matter of seconds. And guess what? Suttner thrives in that role too! He makes an astonishing 3 interceptions per game while also creating almost two chances per game! No doubt his tally of 96 interceptions this season has been the 7th most in the league while his 49 created chances are 8th most in the league and most by any defender.
Suttner’s passing accuracy of 61% seems pretty low, but as mentioned earlier, Ingolstadt’s quick counter attacking gameplay barely offers them any time to re-address their team formation and play the ball out as the oppositions are just too quick to pounce. Although that’s not to deny that he should improve on his pass completion rate a bit more since the margin of error dramatically decreases in the highest level in football.
The 30-year old Austrian is also a decent contributor in defence. He is usually forced to track back for his team due to their playing style, and he, subsequently has made 70 clearances this season, that’s more than 2 per game. However, that’s not even the biggest trait for the Ingolstadt defender because he’s an exceptional free kick taker. In recent months, the Austrian International has grown to be one of Bundesliga’s most fearful free kick takers. Suttner is incredibly accurate with his dead ball abilities, and most of his chances came from the looping crosses into the box from a free-kick or a corner. His set piece expertise also makes him a dangerous threat from long range, and he averages 1.4 shots per game, which is actually quite good for a left back.
The fact that Ingolstadt have only managed to score only 36 goals(fifth worst in the league tied with Eintracht) is solely because of their own futility in finishing off the massive number of chances created by Pascal Gross(Brighton signed him this summer!) and Markus Suttner. Having the league’s worst conversion rate with 6.5% doesn’t come as a surprise when you have Dario Lezcano, Lukas Hinterseer and Matthew Leckie as your main offensive trio upfront.
Anyway, Markus Suttner, in my opinion, will he one hell of a signing for Brighton and Hove Albion and he will also join his teammate Pascal Gross. It’s really interesting to see newly promoted English clubs like Huddersfield Town or Brighton hitting the gems of the German leagues and that too for a meagre amount of fees instead of going all out for proven talents.
