“Surreal” spending will take time to work for Brighton says Hurzeler
Brighton ended the summer transfer window as the biggest net spenders in world football, forking out nearly £200 million on nine new players all aged under 25 from different leagues around Europe.
Such sums of money were alien to new head coach Fabian Hurzeler. St Pauli spent a grand total of £920,000 in the summer of 2023, meaning the most costly signing of Hurzeler’s managerial career before arriving at the Amex was Erik Ahlstrand for £550,000 from Halmstads BK.
Despite a mid table Bundesliga 2 budget in terms of transfers and wages, Hurzeler led St Pauli to the title and promotion to the top flight of German football after a 13-year absence.
Hurzeler spoke about his move to Brighton in an exclusive and extensive interview with former Augsburg and Czech international midfielder Jan Moravek for Flashscore.
The most interesting bit was arguably where the youngest head coach in Premier League history talks about the challenges which come with spending such money, as well as trying to introduce so many young players into a new league and country at the same time.
“You have to see that they were all very young players who came from another league,” said Hurzeler. “The Premier League is the best league in the world and the players need time. Time to adapt and get to know the league.”
“It will take a while until the players can bring their full potential onto the pitch. We have to introduce them slowly. I am glad that the owner made these transfers. Of course, these sums are surreal for me too.
“Compared to St. Pauli, it was something completely different. But I am not someone who hides behind it or puts artificial pressure on myself because we spent so much.”
“I am someone who also has ambitions and who probably puts the most pressure on himself. That is why these sums do not put additional pressure on me.”
Hurzeler took a slow-and-steady approach with Ferdi Kadioglu and Georginio Rutter, waiting several weeks to introduce them into the Brighton starting XI.
Yankubu Minteh in contrast was chucked straight in for the opening game of the season at Everton. That was understandable given the hot form he displayed through pre-season.
Injuries have prevented Hurzeler making the most of Mats Wieffer so far. Brajan Gruda is yet to play a minute in an Albion shirt following his move from Mainz and Matt O’Riley required ankle surgery after less than a quarter hour of action.
Hurzeler also spoke to Flashcore about how Brighton identify and sign players. His praise and enthusiasm for Tony Bloom’s methods strike a stark contrast to that of Roberto De Zerbi, who wanted a greater say on transfers.
De Zerbi’s public criticism of Bloom for not signing enough players to cope with the added demands of Europa League football last season played a major part in the fiery Italian leaving the Albion. The irony of Brighton spending £200 million immediately after De Zerbi departed has not been lost on anyone.
“You have very special scouting here in Brighton,” Hurzeler said. “The owner, Tony Bloom, only scouts based on data. It was important to us that we strengthen ourselves in certain areas. But also to put trust in the team we already had.”
“Tony Bloom wanted to strengthen himself in certain areas. He then uses data and a certain algorithm to scout for the players he is looking for.”
“A Zoom call or meeting is then organised with the player with the data he is looking for. We want to get to know their character because they not only has to fit into the team in terms of football but also as a person.”
Hurzeler made a flying start to life at Brightonon, winning the first Premier League Manager of the Month award of the season after two victories and a draw through his first three matches in England.
The Albion have not won since though. Is it the Curse of the Manager of the Month? Or have other clubs already worked out the way to joy against his high defensive line, resulting in Brighton conceding eight goals in three games to Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea?
If the latter, Hurzeler will need to learn quickly. The Premier League is brutal and any mistakes or weaknesses punished, as Cole Palmer showed last weekend by scoring a nine-minute hat-trick on his way to four goals in one half of football.
Hurzeler talked of the ability to change and adapt being part of character. Good news if true, with the high line being questioned by everyone from BBC Match of the Day to The Guardian to the woman who cut my hair in the barbers on Thursday afternoon.
“When Brighton called, my gut said relatively quickly: do it!” said Hurzeler. “But of course, if you then weigh up the rational arguments, it might have been a 50-50 decision whether to stay at St Pauli or move to Brighton.”
“But for me, this gut feeling is always very important and based on that, I decided very quickly to take this step.
“On the one hand, I was convinced that I could do it together with my team. I am someone who does not like to stay in my comfort zone. I like to look for new challenges and then tackle them.”
“Be it a new culture, a different language or simply another country. That is my attitude to life, always learning and tackling new challenges.”
