Eight young Brighton players get the chance to impress Stateside
Brighton have confirmed their squad for the Summer Series in the United States and it includes eight development squad players who will get the opportunity to impress Roberto De Zerbi ahead of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
There are some notable absentees from the list. Robert Sanchez is the most glaring omission as his banishment from first team duties continues after he refused to sit on the bench for the final five matches of the previous campaign.
Andi Zeqiri, Aaron Connolly and Michal Karbownik are all missing, suggesting they have not done enough so far to convince De Zerbi of their suitability for Premier League football next season. Reda Khadra is also absent with confirmation of a permanent move to Ligue 1 side Reims said to be imminent.
Jakub Moder and Jeremy Sarmiento have not recovered sufficiently from long-term injuries to be involved. Moder last played a competitive game in April 2022 whilst Sarmiento has been on the shelf since a broken metatarsal picked up on international duty in March.
More surprising omissions are Odel Offiah and Andrew Moran. Both made their Premier League debuts last season and might therefore have expected to head across the Atlantic. The most likely explanation is that Brighton have season long loan moved lined up for the highly-rated duo.
But what of those who have gone to the United States? Here are the nine young players you might be about to see in a Brighton shirt for the first time over the next week.
Carl Rushworth
Not many players attract scouts from Barcelona to watch a game at the seventh level of English football. Rushworth though managed it, the Spanish giants having him watched as an 18-year-old whilst he was on loan at Worthing in the 2019-20 campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Rushworth has long been marked out as a future Brighton number one. He was part of the England Under 21 squad who won this summer’s European Championship having first forced his way onto the international scene in 2020-21 when spending a year at League Two side Walsall.
In his time at the Banks Stadium, Rushworth won the double of Players’ Player of the Season and Supporters’ Player of the Season. He then spent last season in League One with Lincoln City, whose manager Kennedy described him as “phenomenal.”
The logical next step is a campaign on loan in the Championship to continue his development. For him to head to the US before that is testament to the high regard Brighton hold him in.
Ed Turns
Until recently, Haydon Roberts was viewed as the next development squad defender likely to progress into the senior setup.
Turns though has since usurped Roberts, to the point that Roberts was released at the end of last season whilst his teammate younger by one year signed a new deal.
2022-23 turned out to be an excellent season for Turns. He impressed on his second senior start at Forest Green Rovers in the Carabao Cup and then helped Leyton Orient win the League Two title after moving to Brisbane Road on loan in January. Turns played 16 times for the Os, recording eight clean sheets and scoring twice.
With Brighton arriving in the United States looking a little thin at centre back following the return to Chelsea of Levi Colwill, Turns is one of the more likely of the eight to receive game time during the Summer Series.
Imari Samuels
19-year-old Samuels has enjoyed something of a rapid rise since his arrival from Reading last summer. The left back turned down a new contract with the Biscuitment in favour of signing for Brighton, leading the Albion to pay a compensation fee for his services.
Samuels contributed five assists from 19 Premier League 2 outings for Brighton in 2022-23 and started two games for England at the recent FIFA Under 20 World Cup. He was named on the bench by De Zerbi when the Albion were beaten 4-1 at Newcastle United in May.
His attacking abilities and willingness to bomb up and down the left flank will undoubtedly earn comparisons to Pervis Estupinan.
As the only other natural left back to have travelled to the US other than the Ecuadorian international, Samuels could get an extended opportunity to showcase his skills.
Benicio Baker-Boaitey
Easily the least well known young player to head across the pond as part of De Zerbi’s squad, 19-year-old Baker-Boaitey might well have the best name of any Brighton player ever.
But what else do we know about him, other than he sounds more like a character in an Agatha Christie murder mystery set in an exotic location than a professional footballer?
Baker-Boaitey started out at West Ham United before joining Porto in 2020. After six months in Portugal, he returned to England with the Albion initially on loan for the second half of the 2020-21 campaign.
Brighton then exercised their right to turn the temporary move into a permanent transfer at the end of the season for an undisclosed fee which genuinely remains undisclosed; we cannot find even the sketchiest rumour regarding how much Baker-Boaitey cost from all of five minutes researching.
In his 30 months with the Albion, Baker-Boaitey has played six times for the Under 18s and 15 times for the Under 21s. Those appearances have yielded no goals and two assists in competitive matches, but clearly Baker-Boaitey has something about him which has impressed De Zerbi.
Either that or Roberto is a closet fan of Dame Agatha’s work. Like Hercule Poirot, Baker-Boaitey is a man of many talents and can play equally effectively down the right flank or left.
Jack Hinshelwood
The latest in a long line of Hinshelwoods to play for Brighton, 18-year-old Jack is one the most highly rated prospects in the Albion academy system.
He signed a long-term contract through to 2026 in the Spring and followed that up with a Premier League debut on the final day of the campaign away at Aston Villa.
Despite still being eligible for youth team football, Hinshelwood spent the 2022-23 season mainly playing for the Under 21s in PL2.
Head coach Shannon Ruth said of Hinshelwood: “Jack has made the step up to Under 21s football seamlessly this season, and he has had the opportunity to train with the first team on numerous occasions.”
Hinshelwood’s inclusion in the squad for the US tour also gives us an excuse to mention one of the best things that has ever happened in Brighton history; namely, the incredible own goal his father Adam scored when Colchester United visited Withdean on Boxing Day 2008.
Kierain Trippier < Adam Hinshelwood pic.twitter.com/EfKQTZnnga
— We Are Brighton (@wearebrighton) February 28, 2019
The Streets will never forget the mixture of shock, laughter and one bloke sat directly underneath the South Stand camera gantry whose anguished cry of “FUCKINGGGGGGG HELLLLLLLLLL” was perfectly captured by the television crew as Hinshelwood beat John Sullivan from a full 30 yards away.
If Jack can mix his very obvious footballing ability with his dad’s penchant for entertainment, everyone watching the Albion in the Summer Series will be in for a real treat.
Jenson Weir
Morecambe were an absolute basket case of a club last season. The inevitable consequence of terrible ownership was sadly relegation to League Two for the Shrimps.
Despite the problems off and on the pitch, Albion midfielder Weir had a very good season on loan at the Mazuma Stadium in which he registered five assists and scored 11 times.
A central midfielder netting double figures in a team pushing for promotion is impressive. Weir doing it in a side who finished 22nd out of 24 in the standings is astounding.
Competition for places in midfield looks fierce for the campaign ahead following the signings of Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner.
Weir through deserves his chance to be a part of the first team squad for the Summer Series, even if he is most likely to head to a Championship club on loan for the upcoming campaign.
Cam Peupion
Peupion has proven to be something of a goal machine since moving to Brighton from his native Australia as a 17-year-old in August 2020.
The Albion paid around £185,000 to Sydney FC for the services of the attacking midfielder, who has since scored 10 times in 18 matches for the Under 18s and 12 in 54 for the Under 21s.
Throw in three and eight assists respectively and you have a young number 10 who poses a real threat in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net and creating opportunities for his teammates.
Those Brighton fans who braved a midweek trip to Nailsworth in August saw that first hand when Peupion marked his senior debut by setting up Evan Ferguson for the third and final goal as Brighton beat Forest Green.
Peupion went onto make his first Premier League appearance at Newcastle in May, completing a memorable six week period. Six goals and three assists from five games had seen him named April 2023 PL2 Player of the Month.
