Leandro Trossard: Contract situation and his Brighton future
Who is ready for another round of rumours involving Glow Up Graham and his pillaging of the Albion? With the World Cup (nearly) out of the way and the January transfer window not far from opening, speculation is certain to kick up a notch surrounding Leandro Trossard, his contract situation and a potential move to Chelsea.
Trossard has been linked with a move away from the Amex even before Potter upped sticks for Stamford Bridge. Arsenal, the Saudi Sportswashers and West Ham United were all said to be monitoring his situation in the summer.
Glow Up’s appointment as Chelsea boss meant they were naturally added to the mix. So too Liverpool; Jurgen Klopp seemingly impressed that Trossard has scored the same number of goals in his past two appearances at Anfield as £64 million man and one-time Brighton target Darwin Nunez has managed all season.
Teams abroad said to want Trossard include Atletico Madrid, who have also been linked with Alexis Mac Allister in recent days following his performances for Argentina in Qatar.
Trossard and his agent have done little to dampen down the prospect of a departure from the Amex. When asked about his Albion future on BBC 5 Live’s Monday Night Club in October, Trossard said: “It is difficult to say anything about it now.”
The Vampire of Genk last month told Play Sports when quizzed about links with Chelsea: “It is very difficult to answer that. That will have to wait until after the World Cup. I’m not on it at all right now. Brighton and the World Cup are the next goals. Afterwards, we’ll see where it ends.”
Right now, it seems likely that it ends with a sale. But not in January as a lot of media outlets have reported, based largely on the erroneous belief that Leandro Trossard will be out of contract with Brighton in the summer.
When the Albnion signed Trossard in the summer of 2019, he penned a four-year deal with the option for a further year. Nobody seems certain whether the Albion have exercised that extra 12 months yet, but it seems certain they will.
Potter himself eluded to it when he was still Albion boss in August. Following the 2-0 win at West Ham United, Glow Up was asked if Brighton would be offering Trossard a new deal with his set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
“It’s not a year, it’s more than that,” Potter responded, suggesting that Trossard was or would be tied down until 2024. That gives Brighton two transfer windows – January and the summer – in which to sell the Vampire of Genk before he can open talks with any club abroad about a free transfer next January.
The Albion found themselves in a similar situation last year when Yves Bissouma entered the last 18 months of his contract.
Brighton refused to sell midway through the season, instead accepting a lesser fee from Bissouma in the summer. A rumoured £35 million bid from Aston Villa was turned down in favour of receiving £25 million from Spurs six months later.
If the Seagulls did not want to part with Bissouma mid-season, they are not likely to sell Trossard. The Vampire of Genk is more important to Brighton in 2022-23 than Bissouma was in 2021-22. With seven goals, he is the Albion’s top scorer.
In fact, you have to go back to the 2013-14 season for the last time Brighton flogged a first-choice player in January, when both Liam Bridcutt and Ashley Barnes departed to Sunderland and Burnley respectively.
Some Brighton fans are hanging onto the hope that Leandro Trossard may yet pen a new contract at the Amex. This seems highly unlikely though.
At the age of 28, Leandro Trossard has one big contract left in him whilst he is at his peak. If he does not move to a Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal now on a mega-money deal, then his chances of playing Champions League football and consistently challenging for trophies will be seriously reduced.
Comparisons have been made with Mac Allister agreeing a new deal in October. The circumstances surrounding the Argentina World Cup hero were however very different.
Mac Allister is aged only 23. If he sees out his contract through to 2026, then he will be only 27 and very much in-demand by the biggest clubs in the world if he continues his current rate of progress.
That new deal too was as much about giving Mac Allister a pay rise to fit his status as one of the most important players in Robert De Zerbi’s XI as it was keeping him at the Amex for two more years.
As for Trossard, no Brighton fan could begrudge him seeking a move and a bumper payday at this stage of his career either.
He has been excellent in his three-and-a-half season so far, becoming only the third Brighton player to ever score a Premier League hat-trick.
His overall haul of 25 goals leaves him two short of overtaking Neal Maupay and Glenn Murray to become the Albion’s second-highest top flight scorer after Michael Robinson.
Whilst it would be lovely for Trossard to stay for another four years and write his name into the record books by outscoring Robinson, the assumption must be that he will be off in the summer.
As far as parting gifts go, Trossard scoring the goals to take Brighton even higher than last season’s historic ninth placed finish would be a fitting way for him to sign off.
The Albion keeping Trossard into the 2024-25 season looks at this moment in time improbable. Time to enjoy the Vampire of Genk whilst we all can over the second half of the campaign and then pray he has the good sense to move anywhere but Chelsea.
