Brighton sign Ivorian forward Simon Adingra for £6 million
Don’t you love it when confirmation of a new signing comes completely out of the blue? There we were, watching Celebrity Gogglebox when a random sports journalist specialising in Ghanaian football tweeted a photo of Brighton target Simon Adingra and another unknown man posing with an Albion shirt.
Nuhu Adams had trumped the club, although it remained a mystery to many Albion fans as to which of the two blokes in the photo was actually Adringa.
The Albion later took full advantage of the situation by making the official announcement with a picture of Adingra looking around and the caption: “Looking for leaked signing pics.” Further proof that Brighton currently have the best social media admin in English football.
Wait the new signing isn't this bloke? #BHAFC pic.twitter.com/spyN90P5V3
— We Are Brighton (@wearebrighton) June 24, 2022
Simon Adingra is a 20-year-old forward capable of playing down either flank. He has mainly been used on the left by Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjaelland, to whom Brighton have paid £6 million to secure his services.
Watch his highlight reel on YouTube (insert normal disclaimer about how Cristian Baz and Augustin Batipiedi looked good on YouTube here) and you will see a quick, direct player who likes to run at people and burst inside from out wide.
Quite where he would fit into a Brighton side whose best formation is a back three with wing backs remains to be seen, although it may be a problem that Graham Potter does not need to solve for some time as Adingra is likely to head straight out on loan.
Potential problems securing him a British work permit means that Europe is his likely destination, ala The Lion of Judah Percy Tau.
With Union Saint Gilloise set to lose both Deniz Undav and Kaoru Mitoma to Brighton this summer, Brussels would be an obvious place for Adingra to replenish the strike force of Tony Bloom’s Belgian team.
Adingra is a product of Ghana’s Right to Dream Academy. Since its founding in 1999 by Manchester United’s former head scout in Africa Tom Vernon, Right to Dream has placed over 114 players in professional clubs including 20 in Europe.
Ivorian Adringa is one of those, moving to Nordsjaelland in January 2020. The Danish club have a formal partnership with Right to Dream, enabling them to acquire some of the best young talent from West Africa.
Their stadium was even renamed from Farum Park to Right to Dream Park in 2016 in honour of the relationship. Alongside Adringa in Nordsjaelland’s squad were two fellow Ivorians and four players from Ghana.
Adingra made quite an impression in youth football following his arrival in Denmark. He scored five and assisted six goals from 12 appearances for Nordsjaelland Under 19s before making his senior debut towards the end of the 2020-21 Superliga campaign.
It was a game to remember for Adingra as he marked it with a goal shortly after his introduction as a 68th minute substitute in a 2-2 draw with FC Copenhagen.
He would go onto make six further appearances before the campaign finished – one start and five from the bench – and scored once more in a 3-2 win over FC Midtjylland.
Nordsjaelland ended the season in sixth place in the regular season before coming fifth of sixth in the championship mini-league when the Superliga split into two for the final 10 games.
Adingra became a first team regular in 2021-22. He played 33 times in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and assisting four to attract the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Those numbers were made more impressive by the struggles Nordsjaelland went through, finishing ninth in the regular season table and then third of sixth in the relegation mini-league. Adringa’s nine league goals put him ninth in the Superliga scoring charts.
