Ryan Longman makes the long hop to Hull and Back | We Are Brighton
Honestly, I cannot begin to tell you how long we have been waiting for Brighton send a player to Hull City purely to bust out the Only Fools and Horses To Hull and Back photoshop, so praise be to Ryan Longman who has joined the Tigers on a season-long loan.
The highly rated forward signed a new two-year contract with the Albion last week after impressing on loan in 2020-21 at AFC Wimbledon. A move to the KCOM Stadium will enable Longman to test himself at Championship level in 2021-22 following Hull’s promotion as League One champions at the end of last season.
Longman is following the loan player pathway of successive spells working through the divisions that is becoming a familiar route to first team football for young Brighton players.
Ben White went from League Two with Newport County to League One with Peterborough United to Championship with 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United.
After impressing on every rung of the Football League ladder, White took to the Premier League like a duck to water. His first top flight campaign culminated with an international debut and a place in the England squad for Euro 2020 (in 2021).
Robert Sanchez has followed a familiar route, spending time with Forest Green Rovers and Rochdale. He looked set to have his Championship spell last season until Christian Walton picked up an unfortunate pre-season injury, requiring Sanchez to stay at the Amex as third choice behind Maty Ryan and Jason Steele.
Ryan’s form deserted him, Sanchez was thrown into the deep end of a Premier League relegation battle and the rest as they say is history. Sanchez too was a surprise call up for Euro 2020, being selected for Spain ahead of £72 million Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
There are high hopes that Longman can enjoy the sort of success that White and Sanchez have. If he were to do so, he would become the first forward to come through the Brighton academy for a very long time.
In the past 20 years, Jake Robinson is the closest the Albion have got to producing a homegrown striker who can score regularly. Robinson managed 22 goals in his time at Withdean, finishing as Brighton’s top scorer in the 2006-07 season with 12.
Six of those arrived in the space of a month, a stunning hat-trick away at Huddersfield Town being followed up by another treble when the Albion hammered Northwich Vitoria 8-0 in the first round of the FA Cup.
Aaron Connolly looked like he could be the man to end the striker drought when bursting onto the scene with a brace against Spurs in October 2019.
His performance that day now looks to be a flash in a pan as the Irishman appears more interested these days in breaking lockdown rules to bonk women and getting worked up that his ex-girlfriend is a contestant on Love Island.
Perhaps Connolly would have less of an attitude problem if he had done the hard yards on loan in the Football League. Longman certainly seems to be thriving. He missed just two League One matches for Wimbledon last season, scoring eight times and registering two assists from 44 appearances.
Longman is capable of playing anywhere across the front three, offering the sort of versatility that Graham Potter cherishes in his players.
He even turned out at right back once for Brighton Under 18s in the 2017-18 season, from where he claimed two assists in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
In Brighton colours, Longman has a record which reads four goals from 17 Premier League 2 games and he scored 13 in 36 matches during his time in the Under 18s.
Longman was a man in-demand this summer. A number of Championship clubs were interested, including former Albion manager Chris Hughton at Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees had been one of the favourites to sign him.
Instead though, Longman is off to Hull. Which is just as well as Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert never went To Nottingham and Back as far as anyone is aware.
