If this is goodbye, Pascal deserves a sehr Gross Brighton send off

Sunday 22nd May could be the end of an Albion era. With Pascal Gross yet to sign a new Brighton contract and his current deal expiring next month, the visit of West Ham United currently stands as his auf Wiedersehen to the Amex Stadium.

When historians come to look back at the first five years of the Albion’s Premier League adventure, Gross will be considered one of the leading lights alongside Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray.

Without the contributions of those three, Brighton would have seen their top flight journey ended long before it reached the half-a-decade mark.

I would in fact go further than that and say that Gross has been the most important player in establishing the Albion in the Premier League.

Without his goals and assists, relegation would certainly have happened at the end of the 2017-18 season.

He scored seven and set up another eight in a campaign in which the Albion netted only 34 times, meaning Gross was involved in nearly half of the Seagulls’ total goals.

In the subsequent four campaigns, he has played a central role each time despite being written off by many fans and at one point, Graham Potter.

Cast your minds back to the start of the 2020-21 season. Brighton set a club-record worst start to a top flight season, winning just two of their opening 18 fixtures.

Gross barely featured at all in that dismal run. He had to wait until the 2-1 defeat at Spurs on November 1st for his first start of the campaign (of course claiming an assist).

He started the next six games, scoring twice and assisting once more before Potter again jettisoned him.

Gross next returned to the starting XI for the 1-0 win away at The Leeds United in January. He started every game from that point on, coinciding with a remarkable turnaround in form.

Having won two games out of 18 with Gross out the side, Brighton secured seven victories from 20 outings in the second half of the campaign with the German restored to prominence.

That run included memorable success against Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester City. By the end of the campaign, Gross even assumed the role of Der Kapitan when Dunk was suspended.

In the current campaign, Gross has the best chance creation rate of any player outside the European Super League Elite Six.

He makes 2.59 chances per 90 minutes for his teammates, proving that his advancing years are proving no hinderance to his abilities.

Not that his age is advanced. Pascal Gross turns 31 two weeks before his Brighton contract expires on June 30th.

And his lack of speed means that the passage of time is unlikely to blunt his effectiveness as a footballer; he has no pace to worry about losing.

Clearly, Gross still has plenty to offer Brighton and the Premier League. Just ask Manchester United, who could not live with him when they were embarrassed 4-0 in front of a rocking Amex.

Silky footwork and a clinical finish saw Gross score the third that evening. Arguably more memorable than the goal was the Double Gross Turn followed by backheel in front of the West Stand in the second half, leaving Fred looking more confused than Dot Cotton at an acid party.

Keeping Pascal Gross at Brighton would appear a no-brainer. But unfortunately for the Albion, it is not as simple as offering him a contract and expecting him to stay.

Gross spoke honestly about his future after bamboozling United, saying in his post-match interview: “I’ve been here for five years, that’s a long time when you come from abroad but I’m enjoying it.”

In amongst all the euphoria at wiping the floor with the Red Devils, those comments went under the radar. They could be interpreted as a coded goodbye, that Gross intends to return home this summer to finish his playing days in Germany.

Nobody could blame him for that. The less-frenetic pace of the Bundesliga would suit him and it is a fair to assume that he would play more first team football in the Fatherland.

He will not want to spend the final years of his career flitting in and out of the Brighton XI. He is too good for that.

Werder Bremen have had a long-standing interest in Gross going back to January. Werder’s hopes of signing him will have been boosted by their return to the Bundesliga after finishing runners up to Schalke in the German second tier.

If Gross is to swap Brighton for Bremen this summer, then he is deserving of a goodbye against West Ham befitting his status as the man who has done more than any other to keep Brighton in the Premier League.

Neither Chris Hughton or Murray were able to receive the adulation of the Amex crowd. Bruno did and Gross deserves the same reception El Capitan got following his emotional farewell against Manchester City on the final day of the 2018-19 season.

The word legend is far too overused these days, but that is what Gross is to Brighton. 169 Albion appearances. 16 goals. 28 assists. 331 successful Gross Turns.

The German with the second-most assists in Premier League history after Mesut Ozil. And all for a fee of just £3 million.

All we can do now is pray that this is not the end. But if it is, then let it be an end that leaves Gross in no doubt about what he means to the people of Brighton & Hove and Sussex.

Pascal deserves a Sehr Gross Brighton send off.