The WAB Friday Quiz #132

Alex Pritchard, remember him? Brighton had agreed a fee with Spurs for the services of the midfielder in the summer of 2016 and he was on route to the Amex to sign a contract, only to decide that the traffic was too bad on the M25 and so he turned around and went to Norwich City instead.

Albion fans have never forgiven Pritchard for his phobia of stationery cars – which of course had nothing to do with the Canaries waving a larger pay packet under his nose at the 11th hour.

He has since been greeted with boos whenever he has come up against Brighton, which is not too often as his career has been unable to match the sharp rise the Seagulls have been on since he turned Chris Hughton down. Justice.

Pritchard is of course not the only ‘nearly man’ who could have become an Albion player but for one reason or another, did not. Virgin van Dijk is another famous example alongside a couple of young talents who went on trial at the Goldstone in the 1980s and who, if we mention here, will give a couple of answers away.

For this week’s WAB Friday Quiz is about those nearly men. The transfers or managerial appointments that came close to happening but never did. Some worked out well, others – like missing out on van Dijk – not so well. Let’s see how many you can remember.

The WAB Friday Quiz #132 - Brighton Nearly Men
A year before Brighton bought Florin Andone for £5.2 million from Deportivo La Coruna, they tried to sign him for £17 million. Why did that deal not go through?

Which young Irish midfielder did Brighton take on trial at the same time as Paul McCarthy, opting to sign the defender and not his countryman?

After Brighton were unable to afford Virgil van Dijk, which British club did he join for £2.6 million from Groningen?

What nationality is Darwin Nunez, the Benfica striker who Brighton have been heavily linked with over the past two summers?

Brighton rejected the opportunity to sign which future Crystal Palace goal getter in the mid 1980s?

Which club did Brighton agree a fee with for Alex Pritchard before he turned around on the M25 and instead decided to join Norwich City?

The Albion looked set to complete a permanent deal for Lorenzo Pinamonte in 2000 until which club swooped in at the last minute to sign the Italian striker?

Brighton had a £10 million fee agreed with FC Zurich for striker Raphael Dwamena in the summer of 2017. What prevented the deal happening?

Trinidad & Tobago international Kelvin Jack had a trial with Brighton in the summer of 2005. What position did he play?

Which defender did Brighton sign in the summer of 1998 from Stoke City, only to sell him to Hibernian less than a month later without him ever playing a game for the Albion?

Former Brighton youth team player Russell Martin is now manager of which Football League club?

Martin Hinshelwood was rumoured to have been offered Matthew Upson or Kolo Toure on loan from Arsenal in 2002. Which defender did he instead decide to sign?

Gus Poyet initially tried to sign which player in January 2011, who instead opted to move from Exeter City to Swansea City?

Michael Standing moved to Aston Villa as a teenager without ever playing a game for Brighton. What relation was he to Dick Knight?

Future Hungarian international striker Zsombor Kerekes had an unsuccessful trial with Brighton in the summer of 2004. Who did Mark McGhee opt to sign instead?

Brighton pulled out of a deal to sign promising Chelsea right back Tino Livramento in the summer of 2021. He instead moved to which club?

Which highly respected coach did Sami Hyypia appoint as his assistant in 2014, only for said coach to then U-turn and join Southampton instead?

Manager Winfried Schäfer had agreed to become Brighton boss in the summer of 2002, only to pull out at the last minute. Which nation had he managed at that year's World Cup?

Which of these former England international left backs had an unsuccessful trial with Brighton in the summer of 2013?

Dick Knight managed to secure compensation of how much from Aston Villa for their poaching of Gareth Barry?

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