[Albion] 2025 January Transfer Window OPEN - incoming/outgoing

[Zeberdi]

It's got nothing to do with Bloom, Barber nor the club's ability to do good business.

I think TB/PB ability to do good ‘business’ is at the heart of any dealing we have with other clubs.

I take your point about contract extensions on contracts with only 6 months left but the Club has often extended contracts (with longer time left) with players once interest from other clubs makes a move look possible. Caceido signed an extension to his contract in 2023 even though he knew he was leaving in the summer.

I think as well as the upside you mention, there’s also a risk to players running down their contract and that is they may end up out of work. With a player like Lamptey who is not a footballing superstar and is injury prone it’s more of a risk. If he has a bad injury a few months before he’s out of contract what happens then? He won’t have a line of clubs queuing up then.

When a player runs down their contract to this extent, they almost certainly will not sign an extension as it directly limits their options and earning capacity.

We don’t know what is going on with Lamptey - or Veltman, another important defender for us whose contract is running down.

There has been no rumours afaia saying either want to leave Brighton and as was pointed out on the first page of the thread by HS when this came up, the contractual negotiations with the club are not discussed in public so all is conjecture as far as Lamptey is concerned - I wonder if maybe we weren’t prepared to have so many defenders out with injury but he is clearly up to the level for a Brighton squad player and unless we sign several defenders this window, we clearly should not be considering sell him to Leicester, Forest or anyone else in this window whether he leaves in the summer on a free or not. That was my point.

 

[Zeberdi]

You clearly have no idea how football transfers work. Why on earth would Lamptey sign a new contract with a few months before it expires, when he's a free agent in the summer?

Because he wants to stay with the Club?

But no, not an expert nor claiming to be just I am pretty sure with both Veltman and Lamptey, there will be negotiations going on that we are not privy to.

My post was rather a question about why the Club would consider selling him this window (with only 6 mnths on his contract) when he is more valuable to us now as a player than what we would lose by him leaving on a free in the summer.

 

[jackalbion]

A few days ago, I was going to pose the question, tongue-in-cheek, "Is the Albion a player-trading business that happens to have a football club attached to it?"

Are you suggesting the same kind of thing there, in that you believe some of our business is not necessarily done with enriching the first team squad but making value investments that we believe will translate into profitable sales in the future?

The hoarding of young attackers is starting to lean that way. Why on Earth did we extend Peupion’s contract in the summer? Samuels? Why didn’t we sell Sima to Rangers, these players aren’t still under contract to enrich our first team squad in any way. Why has Josh Duffus mysteriously disappeared from any team because he doesn’t want to sign a new contract, because we won’t be making a high amount of money out of him?

 

[Bozza]

I think TB/PB ability to do good ‘business’ is at the heart of any dealing we have with other clubs.

I take your point about contract extensions on contracts with only 6 months left but the Club has often extended contracts (with longer time left) with players once interest from other clubs makes a move look possible. Caceido signed an extension to his contract in 2023 even though he knew he was leaving in the summer.

I think as well as the upside you mention, there’s also a risk to players running down their contract and that is they may end up out of work. With a player like Lamptey who is not a footballing superstar and is injury prone it’s more of a risk. If he has a bad injury a few months before he’s out of contract what happens then? He won’t have a line of clubs queuing up then.

We don’t know what is going on with Lamptey - or Veltman, another important defender for us whose contract is running down.

There has been no rumours afaia saying either want to leave Brighton and as was pointed out on the first page of the thread by HS when this came up, the contractual negotiations with the club are not discussed in public so all is conjecture as far as Lamptey is concerned - I wonder if maybe we weren’t prepared to have so many defenders out with injury but he is clearly up to the level for a Brighton squad player and unless we sign several defenders this window, we clearly should not be considering sell him to Leicester, Forest or anyone else in this window whether he leaves in the summer on a free or not. That was my point.

Again - there is absolutely nothing the club can do to make Lamptey sign a contract extension in the name of "doing good business".

That's not to say he won't sign one, but if he does - it's entirely down to his choosing.

I would expect that we very much would like to tie Lamptey down for another 2-4 years, partly to protect our asset, but if he has other ideas, there's nothing we can do about it, despite being one of the best operators in the business.

If he doesn't sign a new deal, then he will have his pick of clubs in the summer, as well as being able to pocket a multi-million pound signing-on fee. That's quite an incentive to let the contract expire in June.

 

[Simster]

Because he wants to stay with the Club?

Yes but you said "it would not be very good business on TBs part, to let a really good defender go on a Bosman"

You didn't suggest it was anything to do with Lamptey wanting to stay.


Edit: Bozza has typed out what I can't be arsed to type myself.

 

[Hiheidi]

 

[WATFORD zero]

A few days ago, I was going to pose the question, tongue-in-cheek, "Is the Albion a player-trading business that happens to have a football club attached to it?"

Are you suggesting the same kind of thing there, in that you believe some of our business is not necessarily done with enriching the first team squad but making value investments that we believe will translate into profitable sales in the future?

I think that is exactly what we have been doing for some time. And then using that profit to invest in more players who are more likely to enrich the first team squad. I don't think it's one at the expense of the other, but both building towards improving the club and first team squad in order to continue outperforming most expectations

 

[Zeberdi]

Regurgitating what’s already been said above

 

[JBizzle]

Because I'm not entirely sure our strategy is trying to build a workable team.

What do you mean by "workable"? I'd argue that we're a decent Premier League team having a solid season, with a mix of some superb results, some middling ones, and some poor ones, and one that still has potential to be a really good season. Southampton don't have a "workable" team, in my eyes. We sure as heck ain't that

 

[Zeberdi]

Yes but you said "it would not be very good business on TBs part, to let a really good defender go on a Bosman"

You didn't suggest it was anything to do with Lamptey wanting to stay.


Edit: Bozza has typed out what I can't be arsed to type myself.

Yes because it wouldn’t be very good business - and I didn’t say we could stop it either but I suspect we will try and negotiate an extension with increased benefits to stop it from happening if we want him to stay. It goes without saying that if an extension was agreed, it was because the player wants to stay.

At the moment we simply don’t know anything - other than we are short on defenders and selling Lamptey now (in this window) won’t be an ideal short term squad solution even though it would get the club a fee.

 

[Simster]

Yes because it wouldn’t be very good business - and I didn’t say we could stop it either but I suspect we will try and negotiate an extension with increased benefits to stop it from happening if we want him to stay. It goes without saying that if an extension was agreed, it was because the player wants to stay.

This is what you said:

As for the summer, I suspect we will get him to sign some sort of extension before letting him go in the summer - it would not be very good business on TBs part, to let a really good defender go on a Bosman.

As has been said before, we won't "get him to sign" anything if he doesn't want to sign. At this point it is out of our hands.

 

[jackalbion]

What do you mean by "workable"? I'd argue that we're a decent Premier League team having a solid season, with a mix of some superb results, some middling ones, and some poor ones, and one that still has potential to be a really good season. Southampton don't have a "workable" team, in my eyes. We sure as heck ain't that

Selling a defender which we're short on and loaning out one of our only two out and out strikers for unknown reasons, is like I've said previously not building a better squad for FH to challenge the establishment.

 

[Zeberdi]

This is what you said:

As for the summer, I suspect we will get him to sign some sort of extension before letting him go in the summer - it would not be very good business on TBs part, to let a really good defender go on a Bosman.

As has been said before, we won't "get him to sign" anything if he doesn't want to sign. At this point it is out of our hands.

Yes, apologies, typing too quickly and trying to respond to several different points at the same time -

I should have said (and meant) I suspect we will try and get him to sign some sort of extension before letting him (or any player ) go in the summer on a free because it would not be very good business on TBs part to let a really good defender go on a Bosman’

I said “I suspect we ‘will’ “ as a statement of faith that I think the Club will succeed in getting him to sign an extension rather than letting him go on a free - of course it depends on if they want him to stay - (which I think they do) and if Lamptey will agree to any new terms.

But can see how what I wrote can be read very differently from what I meant

My point stands though - there’s also a risk to players running down their contract. With a player like Lamptey who is not a footballing superstar and is injury prone it’s more of a risk. If he has a bad injury a few months before he’s out of contract what happens then? Signing an extension guarantees him security should he sustain another significant injury, which may convince him to stay.

 

[Zeberdi]

Because I'm not entirely sure our strategy is trying to build a workable team.

This should cheer you up:

According to Africafoot, writing about El Hadij Malick Diouf who we are apparently close to signing - Hadij Diouf’s Sengalese former teammates and coach have no doubts Brighton is a good destination for developing players:

“He has all the qualities to succeed in this club. Brighton is a stable club where a young person can progress. They have a good project and give young people time to grow. It's really the best place to progress. I'm not afraid of anything for him.”

El Hadij Malick Diouf à Brighton, le choix légitime ? Amdy Faye répond

Selon les informations d'Africafoot, l’arrière gauche sénégalais El Hadji Malick Diouf évoluera sous les couleurs de Brighton pour les cinq

africafoot.com

(Click in search box for translation of article)

 

[Pavilionaire]

This should cheer you up:

According to Africafoot, writing about El Hadij Malick Diouf who we are apparently close to signing - Hadij Diouf’s Sengalese former teammates and coach have no doubts Brighton is a good destination for developing players:

He's just a shit Balotelli.

 

[jcdenton08]

I think that is exactly what we have been doing for some time. And then using that profit to invest in more players who are more likely to enrich the first team squad. I don't think it's one at the expense of the other, but both building towards improving the club and first team squad in order to continue outperforming most expectations

Absolutely this.

 

[Brian Munich]

You clearly have no idea how football transfers work. Why on earth would Lamptey sign a new contract with a few months before it expires, when he's a free agent in the summer?

There are some benefits for the player. Most significantly, it guarantees him another 3-4 years of income regardless of his injury status. I'd imagine that the potential to get a bad injury is at the back of the minds of most players running down their contracts, and this is Tariq Lamptey we're talking about - a player that has missed approx a season and a half worth of games because of injury since he extended his contract in Jan 2021.

I also wonder if he feels any sense of loyalty to the club that has nursed him through this early part of his career, paying for surgery to prevent recurrence of the hamstring issue as well as using him sparingly until fully recovered, all while paying him a PL salary.

 

[Nathan]

Naylor reporting that we have rejected a permanent bid for Ferguson and open to the idea of selling in this window.

 

[Zeberdi]

Naylor reporting that we have rejected a permanent bid for Ferguson and open to the idea of selling in this window.

That’s unexpected - maybe some breakdown in relationships that is possibly forcing a permanent transfer out - can’t think why it would otherwise be good for squad depth or financially unless it’s for silly money?

Surely we would get far less for an injured, underperforming Ferguson than we would for a fully recovered Ferguson that’s scoring goals after a 6th month successful loan spell?

NYT (if that’s your source)

Brighton open to permanent Evan Ferguson exit in January

Brighton & Hove Albion are prepared to allow Evan Ferguson to depart the club permanently in the January transfer window. The 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international has attracted widespread loan interest from Premier League rivals and top-flight clubs abroad, but Brighton are also open to...

www.nytimes.com

Btw - Doesn’t mean to say we would have any intention of accepting any offers, just open to bids as every single squad member is theoretically - TB/PB has always said ‘if the price is right’ ….

 

[Forster's Armband]

Naylor reporting that we have rejected a permanent bid for Ferguson and open to the idea of selling in this window.

I know there has been a lot of debate about this but frankly, this is stupid (if it's true). If 2 of Rutter, JP and Welbz get injured we are screwed and where is the future planning. We won't find a striker with such natural finishing ability again in a hurry. I am usual very supportive of the transfer strategy but this one stinks.