Wingerless, without Danny Welbeck and third in the Premier League. Brighton spent the summer losing some of their best players; they are dealing with a growing injury list; and their outstanding player this season has been a 35-year-old they signed in January for £1.7m. In spite of that, five games into the new Premier League season, they have scored more goals than any other team (16), they have the best goal difference in the league (+11) and they have dismantled the champions, beating Arsenal 3-0 before the international window.
This could have been a transitional season for the club. After finishing eighth in the Premier League last season and qualifying for the Conference League, they sold or loaned out 20 players. There were some headline departures: Carlos Baleba to Manchester United for £70m, Jan Paul van Hecke to Tottenham for £52m, and Danny Welbeck, their top scorer last season with 13 league goals, to Chelsea for £5m.
If the transfer activity had not given Fabian Hürzeler enough of a headache, his two starting wingers – Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh – picked up injuries. To make matters worse, forwards Jack Hinshelwood and Georginio Rutter joined them on the treatment table. The lineup beat Arsenal was not the one Hürzeler would have envisioned when drawing up his plans in pre-season, but Brighton have shot up the Premier League, booked their place in the group stage of the Conference League and knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup.
They have played eight games in all competitions so far, keeping five clean sheets. With so many players either sold or injured, a void opened up. Into this stepped Pascal Gross, who returned to the club from Borussia Dortmund in January for just £1.7m.
The deal read more like a nostalgia play than business that would shape a season, but no Premier League player has been involved in more goals this season than Gross, who has scored three and set up three more. His importance cannot be overstated. In a squad that has lost much of its creative output, he has been the glue.
He can drop deep alongside the defence to help Brighton build from the back, float into spaces to create, or break into the box as a late runner. With Chema Andrés doing the defensive work behind him, Gross can roam, dictate attacks and lead the press from higher up the pitch. He has created more chances than any other player in the league this season (15) and, perhaps most impressive given he is 35, he has covered the second most distance (59.7km).
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