Adam Webster signs new five year Brighton contract
Adam Webster has signed a new five year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion, keeping him at the Amex until 2026 and increasing his value in the transfer market.
The new deal for Sally and Kevin’s son comes less than 72 hours after the £50 million transfer of Ben White to Arsenal was confirmed. Brighton may have lost one outstanding defender, but they have at least tied down another to a long-term deal.
Webster was arguably the Albion’s best centre back in the 2020-21 season up until injury struck in February. Had he not missed the best part of eight weeks of the second half of the campaign, he would have been a genuine contender for Player of the Season.
There were even rumours that his form was good enough to have put him in the thoughts of Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2020. White ended up going to the tournament in the end, but if Webster enjoys another strong start to 2021-22 then there is no reason as to why Rosie and Sophie’s brother cannot join White in the Three Lions squad.
Adam Webster first joined Brighton in the summer of 2019 for £18 million from Bristol City, signing a four year contract which would have expired in two years time. He soon usurped Shane Duffy as Lewis Dunk’s centre back partner, although that was not without controversy.
Although Webster was impressive with his ball playing ability and the way he would step into midfield in possession from the minute he arrived, his defending initially did not look up to Premier League standard.
Several high-profile mistakes – especially when he resembled a dog chasing a balloon up against Ollie McBurnie in a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United in December 2019 – left Webster looking like a weak link, especially as Duffy was the reigning Brighton Player of the Season.
Webster clearly put the spring 2020 lockdown to good use however and returned for the final nine games of the 2019-20 campaign a different player. All the good attacking aspects of his game remained alongside a new-found defensive steel that was a world away from what we had seen pre-Christmas.
Whilst Potter’s switch to a more pragmatic style of play and the emergence of a consistent Yves Bissouma take most of the credit for the Albion’s turnaround in form from June onwards, the new-and-improved Webster played a big part too. He does not get enough credit for that.
There was no doubting now that Webster was the best man for the job of partnering Dunk. He took his form from the end of 2019-20 into 2020-21 and was even entrusted with the captaincy when Dunk was suspended following his rash red card in October’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
At 26-years-old, Webster is still young enough to be open to further improvement. Given the way he performed last season, it would not be a surprise if Brighton were to find themselves batting away big-money offers for his services over the next couple of years – especially if he makes that breakthrough to international football.
Tying him down to a new five year contract is therefore an excellent bit of business by the Albion, significantly increasing his worth. Another £50 million in the bank for an English centre back on a loan term deal would be very nice.
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