Are you obsessed with Brighton signing a goal scoring striker?

Do you need help? Are you obsessed with Brighton signing a goal scoring striker? Is Graham Potter talking about you when he says it is unbelievable and crazy that people think the Albion can buy a 20-goal centre forward?

The answer to that last question is almost certainly a no. I have never come across a Seagulls supporter who believes that the Albion have either the pull or the financial might to sign such a player.

Not to mention that there are hardly any players in the world who reach those figures anyway. Even the likes of Harry Kane, Mo Salah and Jamie Vardy struggle.

Erling Haaland looks like he might do it this season, but then he appears to be a complete goal scoring freak who has already wrapped up the title for Manchester City after just five games.

Maybe the Albion should have tried to sign him from Borussia Dortmund in the summer? Haaland as a Brighton striker. That would have been nice.

What Brighton supporters are legitimately concerned about is the club’s striking options for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Following the sale of Neal Maupay to Everton for £15 million, Danny Welbeck is the only striker in Graham Potter’s squad with any sort of Premier League experience.

After undergoing surgery on a hamstring problem last October and getting a good pre-season under his belt, Welbeck appears to be in the best condition of his career.

He has been available for selection pretty much every game since Boxing Day, including starting the opening four matches of the current Premier League campaign.

There is every chance that Welbeck is finally over the injury troubles that have dogged him in the past five years.

In which case, happy days. Crack on. Everyone can stop getting their knickers in a twist and we can all go back to wondering how we can afford to heat our homes without going bankrupt this winter.

But what if Welbeck gets injured after 20 minutes against Leicester City on Sunday and is out for three months? What happens then?

We saw a glimpse into that future at Fulham on Tuesday night. Welbeck was quite rightly rested by Potter, the thinking being that it would be too much to ask him to get through three games in eight days.

Deniz Undav was named amongst the substitutes alongside Welbeck. That suggests Potter does not believe Undav is ready for Premier League football yet – hardly a surprise as the step up from Belgian Jupiler League to English top flight is huge.

It therefore fell upon Leandro Trossard to lead the line as a false nine. Such a tactic worked last season in the second half of the home game against Manchester City and at Liverpool. It did not work at home to Newcastle United and away at Aston Villa.

Do you see the pattern? Trossard as a false nine is effective against the better sides in the Premier League when Brighton play more on the counter.

In games in which the Albion might be expected to force the issue and take points, it does not work. Add Fulham away to the sample size along with the Saudi Sportswashers and Villa.

It all seems rather risky for Brighton to go into the season with just Welbeck backed up by rookie striker options in Undav and Evan Ferguson.

Kaoru Mitoma and Julio Enciso might be grouped in as forward options along with Trossard, but they are more suited to playing out wide or as number 10s.

None of them is an out-and-out centre forward or likely to thrive as one, even if Trossard has shown that he can do a job as a false nine against certain types of opposition.

No, the only alternatives in terms of genuine strikers Brighton have are Undav and Ferguson. And there is the risk that if either of those two are thrown in at the deep end and find themselves sinking, it could have a seriously detrimental impact on their career prospects.

Especially Ferguson, who would find himself in a similar boat to Aaron Connolly. Shoosh‘s favourite customer became a Premier League regular before he was ready because of a paucity of other options in the 2019-20 season. That worked out well.

Had Maupay not been sold – or a replacement been secured – then the striker shortage would not seem like such a problem.

Brighton’s hand was forced by Maupay’s contract situation, whereby £15 million now from Everton looks good on the balance sheet compared with the Frenchman walking out on a free next summer.

There is not an excuse though for not bringing in a replacement. The Albion knew when Maupay’s contract expired. They knew that if an offer came in for Maupay, they would probably have to sell.

To not have prepared for that scenario and lined up someone with Premier League or English football experience to take Maupay’s place as backup to Welbeck seems like a gamble.

Not many clubs would sell their top scorer from the past three seasons without seeking reinforcements, even if it were just to boost options.

There are those – including Andy Naylor – who ask concerned supporters why they do not have faith in the Albion’s recruitment.

People do have faith. It just isn’t blind faith, whereby the club and their approach are above being questioned. It is Brighton & Hove Albion, not a communist party of the 1970s or a religious cult.

Supporters are justified in worrying about what will happen should Welbeck get injured. To voice the concerns is not some sort of heinous crime.

Undav and Ferguson might be up to it. They might not. But can Brighton really afford to chuck them into a goal shy team and find out in the high pressure environment of the Premier League, where every point is vital?

No Brighton fan is obsessed with the crazy idea of signing a 20-goal striker, contrary to what The Athletic have written and Potter said in his post-match Newcastle press conference.

Albion supporters do care though about a strike force that appears weaker than last season and could be one injury away from a difficult situation.

And there is nothing wrong with that.