Brighton sign striker Andi Zeqiri for £3.5 million

Ladies and gentleman, the Albion have signed a new striker. Andi Zeqiri has made the move to Brighton from Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £3.5 million, signing a four year contract at the Amex.

And the even bigger news – the Albion have handed Zeqiri the number 29 shirt and said that he is to come straight into Graham Potter’s first team squad.

Whilst Zeqiri’s signing has been known for nearly a week thanks to the reporting of Kosovan football journalist Arlind Sadiku, what nobody knew for sure was whether he was another development squad signing or would be providing competition for Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly.

Andy Naylor tweeted that he believed Zeqiri would start out with the Under 23s before a potential loan spell in January. Sadiku and the player’s father meanwhile were adamant that he was to join the senior team right away.

If international clearance is granted in time and the Albion are indeed being truthful about their intentions, Zeqiri could be in the squad to face Everton on Saturday. His arrival should also pave the way for Viktor Gyokeres to complete a loan move to Swansea City.

So, what will Zeqiri bring to the party other than a lovely little goatee beard like Beppe di Marco from EastEnders? He is 6’1, adding much needed height to the attacking options available to Brighton. He is versatile, capable of playing through the middle or on the left of a front three and he will shortly become a full international.

Zeqiri was born in Switzerland and has played all his youth football for the nation up to Under 21 level, but has been called up to the Kosovo squad for their October fixtures with North Macedonia, Slovenia and Greece.

He qualifies for Kosovo through his parents, who like so many other Kosovans moved to Switzerland as a result of the war in their home country.

Zeqiri’s record last season suggests that he knows where the goal is – albeit in the Swiss Second Division. He scored 21 times in 37 games to help Lausanne win promotion to the top flight.

His overall record for his hometown club reads 35 goals from 104 appearances – mainly made in the second tier – since his debut as a 17-year-old in 2015.

Zeqiri has spent his entire career with Lausanne, bar a season long loan with Juventus Under 19s in 2016-17. He notched eight times in 25 matches for the Old Lady’s youth team but the powers that be in Turin decided not to turn the deal permanent.

A return to Italy had looked on the cards for much of the summer. Parma and Napoli were both said to be interested in securing Zeqiri’s services, along with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

The Seagulls though swooped and Zeqiri arrives at Brighton is an intriguing signing rather than one to have supporters dancing in the streets with jubilation.

It will be asking a lot of Zeqiri to make an instant impact in a Brighton shirt. To go from scoring in the Swiss second division to playing Premier League football is going to be quite the step up.

Players with much more experience in leagues of a much higher standard have come to England and failed to make it. Brighton know this only too well having signed a fair few of them (hello Jurgen Locadia, hello Florin Andone).

Facing the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Aymeric Laporte every week is a world away from banging in goals for fun against defenders who have side jobs making chocolate and clocks.

Zeqiri will need time to adapt to his new surroundings and not to be overburdened with expectations. We have seen some Brighton fans writing off Alexis Mac Allister already because they thought he was going to be the next Lionel Messi rather than a young player coming to a new country and a much better grade of football than he was used to.

Cautious optimism is probably the best way to treat Zeqiri’s arrival. We will watch with interest our new Kosovan international.