Brighton & Hove Albion January 2025 Transfer Window Round Up

January is a month which usually feels incredibly long, dull and cold. Brighton though did their best to give us plenty to talk about through their dealings in the January 2025 transfer window.

£43 million of new signings were purchased whilst Evan Ferguson and Julio Enciso left on loan in moves which split opinion amongst Albion fans.

By the time the window slammed shut at 11pm on Monday 3rd of February, Brighton were left with a squad looking very different to the one which finished last season under Roberto De Zerbi.

A very busy Summer

Brighton had one of the busiest summer transfer windows in the club’s history. We saw the arrival of nine new faces: Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Brajan Gruda, Ferdi Kadioglu, Matt O’Riley, Malick Yalcouye, Amario Cozie-Duberry and Ibrahim Osman.

All in all, the Albion spent £193 million on new signings. A mammoth amount of cash making Brighton the biggest net spenders in world football.

Bringing in all these new signings was made possible due to the club selling a number of top class players for massive fees over the last three years, reinforcing how Tony Bloom has become a master of the transfer market.

Brighton & Hove Albion players in, January 2025 transfer window

Historically, Brighton never do much recruitment in January. This seems to be turning into the norm for most teams in the Premier League and across Europe.

Having had such a busy summer 2024 transfer window, it was always inevitable the winter window was going to be a much quieter one with minimal business.

Here are the three new permanent signings made by Brighton in the January 2025 transfer window.

 

Diego Gomez – £12 million, Inter Miami

On the 10th of December, the Albion officially announced their first signing ahead of the January transfer window. 21-year-old Paraguayan international Diego Gomez for £12 million from MLS side Inter Miami.

Fabian Hurzeler confirmed after Gomez’s arrival that he would come straight into the first team squad, rather than being sent out elsewhere on loan.

The playmaker has so far made two appearances for Brighton off the bench. It is far too early to have an opinion on him as he is still adjusting to life in the English top flight and will take a little while longer to settle.

Many Seagulls fans are excited about what he can bring though, myself included. Hurzeler has previously said Gomez is unlike any other midfielder in the current Albion squad.

 

Eiran Cashin – £9 million, Derby County

Brighton had been chasing Eiran Cashin for quite some time. There was firm interest as long ago as the summer of 2023. However, Derby County did not wish to let the Irishman go as an integral part of Paul Warne’s squad with a lot of time left on his contract meaning the Rams were under no pressure to sell.

Having helped Derby win promotion to the Championship last season, Cashin finally becomes an Albion player. As a 6’1 left footed centre back, he is very much a like-for-like replacement for the injured Igor Julio.

Cashin can also slot in at left back if needed, a position where the Albion are currently light through Igor and Kadioglu being ruled out for the season.

Signing Cashin looks like a smart piece of business. He can certainly expect to learn lots from Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke.

 

Stefanos Tzimas – £22 million, FC Nurnberg

It was announced on January 2025 transfer window deadline day that Brighton had agreed a deal for Greek wonderkid Stefanos Tzimas.

A complicated transfer involved FC Nurnberg using the buy clause in their loan deal for Tzimas from PAOK to sign him permanently for £15 million.

Nurnberg then immediately sold Tzimas to the Albion for £22 million. Who immediately loaned him back to Nurnberg until the end of the season.

Keeping up? Good! The 19-year-old striker had six other big clubs after him according to Fabrizio Romano, but it was Brighton who pounced early to get the deal done.

I am holidaying in Athens this summer with my girlfriend so I will look forward to asking any PAOK fans I come across more and Tzimas.

Brighton & Hove Albion players out, January 2025 transfer window

The January 2024 transfer window also saw a number of players depart the Amex. Ferguson and Enciso stole most of the headlines, but there were also sales from the Under 21s of individuals who have played small amounts of first team football over the past few seasons.

 

Julio Enciso – Loan, Ipswich Town

Enciso had begun to look sharp since being given greater playing time mainly from the bench by Hurzeler from January onwards.

That though has not proven enough for the Albion to keep him at the Amex and he joins Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the season.

The summer signings of Georginio Rutter and Brajan Gruda pushed Enciso down to fourth choice in his favoured number 10 position.

He needs to be playing regular football and Ipswich can offer that. It means Brighton fans will have to wait a little longer to see the Paraguayan midfield link up between Enciso and compatriot Gomez.

Enciso is likely to become a key player for the Tractor Boys in their battle against relegation. I am sure many Brighton fans will be keeping a watchful eye on how the popular forward performs during his stint at Portman Road.

 

Evan Ferguson – Loan, West Ham United

The piece of January 2025 transfer window business which caused the most uproar amongst Brighton fans was Ferguson joining West Ham United on loan.

Many supporters (myself included) did not want to lose Ferguson this month because it leaves Danny Welbeck as the only natural number nine in the Albion squad.

There is now added onus on Welbeck to stay fit for the next four months with neither Rutter nor Pedro convincing when playing as a centre forward this season.

Having said that, Ferguson had clearly struggled with injuries and staying fit this season. And when he has managed to step onto the pitch, he looks devoid of any confidence.

It is all a far cry from the player who just 12 months ago was heavily tipped for a big money move to one of the so-called big six clubs.

What did not help Ferguson was playing the second half of last season only 60 or 70 percent fit due to the mounting injuries in the squad. Ferguson eventually underwent ankle surgery in March, since when he has scored just one Premier League goal.

Part of that is due to a lack of game time with Hurzeler making it clear Welbeck is his first choice to lead the line. Like Enciso, Ferguson needs minutes to get his career back on track. Minutes not guaranteed under Hurzeler.

It is easy to forget Ferguson is only 20-years-old and every striker goes through bad spells, especially when they are young.

If Ferguson can regain his fitness, get a run of games and bag some goals playing for West Ham under Graham Potter, then he will hopefully return to Brighton in the summer fit, firing and full of confidence.

 

Jakub Moder – £1.2 million, Feyenoord

Jakub Moder arrived at Brighton in January 2021 with so much potential. He backed that up by making a bright start to life in Albion colours.

Unfortunately for Moder, he ruptured his ACL only 16 months into his Brighton career. It was such a serious injury with several complications that his rehabilitation kept him out for just over 18 months.

Fast forward to the autumn of 2024 and Moder found himself behind Mats Wieffer, Matt O’Riley, Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari and Jack Hinshelwood in the midfield pecking order. It looked an almost impossible task for Moder to force his way onto the bench, let alone the starting XI.

With Moder entering the final six months of his contract, Brighton opted to recoup £1.2 million of the £9 million paid for him by selling to Feyenoord.

This was a good move for all parties. Moder gets a fresh start in a less physically demanding league. Feyenoord get an experienced player that still has some potential left in him for a cut price deal. Brighton pocket some cash and avoid losing Moder for nothing.

A popular player, Moder departed with the best wishes of almost all Albion fans. Fingers crossed he can enjoy a loan and successful career from here.

 

Valentin Barco – Loan with £8 million obligation to buy, Strasbourg

Valentin Barco was initially loaned out in the summer to seven-time Europa League winners Sevilla. The move did not work out and the 20-year-old made only seven appearances in Spain.

Brighton recalled him and agreed a new loan deal with Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, including an £8 million obligation for the French club to buy Barco at the end of the season.

This surprised a lot of people, myself included. The Albion had spent months chasing Barco and beat quite a few clubs to his signature last January.

Having paid £7.8 million to Boca Juniors for Barco, Brighton are not even selling after only 12 months for major profit. Although there is a 10 percent sell on clause, which may net the Albion a further return in the future.

Interestingly, Strasbourg are owned by the same BlueCo consortium which purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich. So it may well be the case that we see Barco back at the Amex someday, wearing a Chelsea shirt…

Brighton & Hove Albion Under 21 players out, January 2025 transfer window

A number of young players also departed Brighton Under 21s during the January 2025 transfer window, including four who had made the odd cameo appearance for the first time.

Defender Ruari McConville moved to Norwich City in something of a surprise transfer. McConville was highly thought of having made his Northern Ireland international debut before his first appearance for the Albion.

That came at Carrow Road in the FA Cup against his new employers. McConville being sold straight to a Championship club without a lower league loan first is pretty unheard of for a Brighton youngster.

Cameron Peupion has joined Dutch side ADO Den Hag. Peupion scored his fair share of goals for the Under 21s but a disappointing loan spell with League One side Cheltenham Town suggested he would struggle to make the grade in the Premier League.

Roberto De Zerbi favourite Benicio Baker-Boaitey has signed for Millwall. The winger was frequently involved in first team squads last season under De Zerbi, who was even rumoured to want to sign him for Marseille in the summer. And left back Imarii Samuels joins Dundee.

Kaoru Mitoma turns down Saudi Arabia

The biggest moment of the January 2025 transfer window for me came when Kaoru Mitoma turned down the opportunity to move to Saudi Arabia in favour of staying with Brighton.

Mitoma was the subject of not one, but two massive bids from Al Nassr. The first rumoured to be for £59 million and the second of £75 million.

The Albion stood firm and rejected both those offers. The decision was made easier for Brighton by Mitoma reportedly having no interest in moving to Saudi Arabia, where he could have been a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo and earned at least £16 million per year.

Losing Mitoma would have been a catastrophic blow to Brighton. He has the ability to be a genuine difference maker between the Albion qualifying for Europe and missing out.

Although some Brighton fans thought the money from Al Nassr too good to turn down, 99 percent of supporters were thrilled Mitoma wanted to stay. His dedication to the Albion and his career over becoming rich edges him closer to legendary status with Brighton.

Brighton January 2025 transfer window verdict

I felt that overall, January 2025 was a pretty underwhelming transfer window for Brighton. Tzimas looks an exciting player with plenty of hype around him. But we will not see him in the stripes until next season at the earliest.

Cashin looks a solid piece of business and the recruitment department must be keen to have kept tabs on and made multiple attempts to sign him over the past 18 months. Keeping Mitoma is of course huge and the best bit of business the Albion did.

However, Brighton go into the second half of the season looking light in a few places. The departure of Ferguson leaves Welbeck as the only out-and-out striker.

The Albion are also short in the full back positions. Joel Veltman, Tariq Lamptey and Pervis Estupinan have all missed a fair few games between them through injury during the first half of the season.

Pretty much every single summer signing has missed three or more games since their arrival. It means the club were never going to bring in more than two or three permanent additions because it would leave a bloated squad if at any time every player is fit and available.

What is disappointing is Brighton did not make any use of the loan market. The Albion could have found temporary solutions to help up front or increase depth in the full back areas, offering a little protection should Welbeck, Veltman, Lamptey or Estupinan be lost through injury.

Brighton though tend to get most things right in the transfer market. The club have earned our trust in the process, so fingers crossed it works out between now and the summer.

Andrew James @AndrewJames1901