New Brighton contact gives Van Hecke chance to keep improving

Jan Paul van Hecke has signed a new contract with Brighton and yet in a bizarre twist, there has been no announcement of how long the deal is for.

Nothing on the official club website accompanying the news. Nothing on The Argus. Nothing reported by The Athletic and Andy Naylor not responding to a tweet from a fan asking how long Van Hecke’s deal was for.

Not even Fabrizio Romano has commented on it, and he seems to be the most in-the-know source for Brighton information at the moment.

The frothy coffee drinking charlatan broke the Joao Pedro signing, Lewis Dunk’s extended contract and the soon-to-be-announced capture of 17-year-old Romanian winger Adrian Mazilu.

So, WAB did some digging. We discovered that Dutch website Voetbal International reported on July 3rd that Van Hecke was set to sign a new two-year deaL with Brighton, keeping him at the Amex until the summer of 2025.

Whilst it may initially appear unusual for the Albion to tie down a promising young player to only a two year contract, Van Hecke finds himself in a pretty unusual position.

His place within the pecking order of Brighton centre backs is complicated by nobody knowing how good he can be, the uncertainty over what is going to happen with Levi Colwill and whether the Seagulls bring in further reinforcements this summer.

Albion fans are renowned for their opinions on players changing like the wind, but even by those standards the transformation in Van Hecke’s standing last season was impressive.

After struggling in the 4-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Thursday 18th May, many supporters concluded Van Hecke was not good enough for Premier League football.

This opinion was not just based on 90 chastening minutes against the Saudi Sportswashers. Van Hecke had endured a troublesome afternoon on his only other top flight start of the season up to the point, the 2-2 draw at Leicester City.

Six days after Brighton had beaten at St James’ Park, Van Hecke was in the starting XI to take on Manchester City at the Amex.

And 90 minutes later after a sterling performance against Erling Haaland and co, Van Hecke had been elevated to a position as the next Bobby Moore. It was an astonishing turnaround.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Van Hecke has plenty of promise but more often than not has struggled in the Premier League; there is no shame in that for a 22-year-old who has never played at such a high level before.

Adam Webster was a calamity at times during his first season in the top flight with the Albion. Dunk at the age of 22 was behind Gordon Greer, Matthew Upson and Adam El-Abd, necessitating a one-month loan spell at League One Bristol City which he mostly spent sat on the bench.

At this point in time, it seems unlikely that Chelses are going to sell Colwill to Brighton. Interest from Liverpool complicates matters further; there is no way the Albion are winning a bidding war against one of the European Super League Elite Six clubs.

If Brighton do not sign a replacement for Colwill, Van Hecke will find himself receiving more game time – even before you take into account the extra workload brought about by the Europa League.

That gives 2023-24 the look of a make-or-break campaign for Van Hecke. Which explains why only a two-year extension suits all parties.

Van Hecke might make the most of an increased number of opportunities by turning in performances akin to his City showing rather than Newcastle or Leicester.

In which case, happy days. Brighton have another top-quality centre back bought for £2.7 million and now worth many times more.

But there remains the possibility that the City game was a one-off. There also remains the possibility that the Albion bring in defensive reinforcements this summer.

A new centre back pushes Van Hecke back to fourth choice at least. A new right back could free up Joel Veltman to move across to the middle, in which case Van Hecke would find himself behind his compatriot too.

Van Hecke has previously spoken of his frustration at the lack of game time he received in 2022-23. Understandable, given he went from being voted Blackburn Rovers Player of the Season 2021-22 to sitting on the bench at the Amex in 2022-23.

Who could blame Van Hecke for thinking of it as a year of his career wasted when regular first team football is what he needed to continue his development?

Van Hecke’s contract had been due to expire this summer but Brighton had another year option. It would potentially have been unwise to activate that year and keep an unhappy Van Hecke.

A two-year contract gives player and club the opportunity to suss out where they stand. Brighton can watch Van Hecke’s progress and decide whether he has what it takes to become a regular at the Albion.

Van Hecke can see just how much football Roberto De Zerbi affords him this season before making a judgement on where his long-term future lies.

That leaves two options on the table for next summer. Do well and Van Hecke signs a longer-term deal. Struggle and he can be sold, probably for a profit on what the Albion paid NAC Breda back in 2020.

Sensible business all round. Even if nobody seems to want to reveal how long Van Hecke has actually signed for.