Brighton & Hove Albion

Joe Sayers
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Carlos Baleba, our midfield powerhouse who has stepped in to almost seamlessly replace Moises Caicedo, has been nothing short of a revelation since his arrival.

We have watched his incredible rise with pride, but success inevitably attracts attention, and the transfer noise had been growing by the day.

Until now, keeping Baleba felt like a distant dream. The tireless speculation suggested it was only a matter of time before a top club came calling with an irresistible bid.

But the news that Brighton have categorically declared him not for sale is the perfect boost at the start of what promises to be a huge season.

This is not just about keeping a player; it is a bold declaration of ambition. It proves we are determined to build on last season's progress rather than cash in and start again.

Many Albion fans had braced themselves for the blow of losing Baleba, fearing what that could mean for our season. Instead, we can now shift the conversation towards what we could achieve with our anchor in place, and the possibilities feel exciting.

Of course, any club looking to prise away one of our stars knows they will have to go toe-to-toe with Tony Bloom, one of the toughest negotiators in world football. Brighton's unwavering stance on Baleba is yet another reminder that if you try to play poker with Bloom, you will be the one folding first.

Crucially, we have built a position of strength. Recent smart transfer business means we are not under financial pressure to sell, and the club's resolve is as strong as our squad.

This summer's message is clear: Brighton & Hove Albion are not here to be raided, we are here to compete.

Find more from Joe Sayers at Albion Obsessed, external

Brighton are among the Premier League clubs keeping close tabs on Hearts' Scotland under-16 international Keir McMeekin. (Daily Record, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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Mark Scott
Final Score reporter

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Fabian Hurzeler told me after the Fulham game that he expects Carlos Baleba to still be at Brighton come the end of the transfer window, and what a boost that will be for the Seagulls.

Despite not playing for almost a month, the 21-year-old stood out in a game that won't live too long in the memory.

We know the Cameroon International is already coveted by others higher up the food chain - and Hurzeler believes there is still room for improvement in terms of Baleba being better in possession.

That is quite a prospect to consider for a player who could conceivably go on to stake a claim for being one of the best central midfielders in the division this season.

Image source, Getty Images

Matt O'Riley spoke to BBC Radio Sussex after Saturday's draw with Fulham: "Disappointing, but lots of positives to take.

"Towards the end of the game, teams get tired and we work a lot on transition in training [so we create a lot of chances]. We have to be more ruthless - the top teams kill games off and this is what we need to improve on."

On his penalty: "We have got a few takers, but I knew before I was going to take it. I try to focus on executing my routine and being in the moment.

"We were hard to play against. We created a lot of chances to kill the game but I think we can be cleaner on the ball to manage the game when it gets chaotic.

"It's the first game of the season - naturally we are going to get sharper and fitter."

• Listen to O'Riley on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Brighton and Fulham.

Here are some of your comments:

Brighton fans

Chris: Seeing out games was a real problem last season, and it looks like that hasn't properly been solved with Fulham. No Europe if it continues to happen this season too.

Fran: Just like last season and before that and before that... we just cannot finish a game off. Had enough good chances to be well in front but no, we are too wasteful. It's all very well playing nice, tippy-tippy, backwards football but, at that stage of the game, we should just boot it out. Who cares if it is not pretty? We have got to learn and quickly.

Mark: Very disappointing from the Seagulls. Same problem as last season: can't defend a one-goal lead and can't get the second goal to kill the game. Two points dropped at home again to one of the poorer-quality teams in the league. We can't afford another season doing this.

Jon: This looked like a case of deja vous - slow-paced, sideways passing all the time, throwing a game away in stoppage time. Fabian Hurzeler says he wants more intensity, then sends a team out that he knows play slow-paced football. All that money spent sitting on the bench - changes must be made next week.

Bob: Time and time again we cannot hold on to a lead. We must have lost 12-15 points by letting in late goals. Drop Dunk.

Ben: Thought the manager would have learned from last season. You take off the players doing badly, not the ones doing the job! The first three substitutions basically changed the game and he seemed to be making more to try to sort it out. Can't take off Georginio Rutter. Based on last season, we will now finish ninth. Every point is vital, so shipping two in the first home game is dreadful.

Fulham fans

Larry: Phew! Maybe let's not sell Muniz?!

Rob: Lacklustre up top. Good in possession but go backwards in final third. Need some new faces desperately to freshen up and improve squad. Josh King was superb and we saw some good things from Smith Rowe when he came on. Need him to stay fit. We have to start Muniz to give us a physical presence up top and don't, in any circumstances, sell him. He will be in the Brazil squad in the World Cup, so play him.

Mario: Frustrating. Thank goodness for Muniz. A point is as good as it was going to be. I hope the owners realise they need to get themselves together and sort out the transfers.

Rob: Obviously, as a fan, these are the best moments to get a goal - the extra emotion, laughing at the home end emptying like the proverbial fire drill, a draw feeling like a win. On the flip side, I'm still underwhelmed at our slowish transitions from defence to attack. I think that's an area we can work on more.

Simon: Lucky to grab a point, Brighton dominated but couldn't finish us off. We can play better but a big plus was Josh King, who did well with the limited about of ball he had.

Danny: Neither Jimenez nor Muniz is a 20-plus-goals striker. Without a consistent goalscorer we will struggle to finish in the top half of the table, let alone get anywhere near the European places. The other problem Marco Silva needs to address is our inability to build on an opening goal or hang on to a lead. Far too many points squandered last season.

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Friday and Saturday's opening Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Sunderland 3-0 West Ham

• Tottenham 3-0 Burnley

• Wolves 0-4 Manchester City

Marissa Thomas
BBC Sport journalist

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Until Fulham's late equaliser, Brighton were heading for a narrow but comfortable win to kick-start their campaign.

That would have been a fifth consecutive victory on the Premier League's opening weekend, but instead they will have to make do with remaining unbeaten in those fixtures.

James Milner, still going strong at 39, came on as a substitute for his 17th first-matchday appearance, with only Frank Lampard (18) making more in the Premier League.

Brighton did not look like they missed forward Joao Pedro, who has joined Chelsea, with winger Yankuba Minteh particularly lively in attack.

The Gambian had five touches in the opposition box, more than any other Seagulls player, and could be a key figure in his second season with the club.

Image source, Getty Images

Brighton drew 1-1 to Fulham in their opening Premier League fixture and boss Fabian Hurzeler believes his team should look at the positives.

"For sure it feels painful," Hurzeler told BBC Sport.

"It's really important to take the positives away. We played well and defended good. We should score the second goal and I think the game would be over. That's football.

"It's very difficult to say [if they could have defended the equaliser better]. It's more about avoiding the corner. The ball is deflected so it's not easy to defend. We have to accept it.

"We controlled most of the first half, although there were not a load of chances. We had to be patient."

• Hear more from Hurzeler speaking to BBC Radio Sussex

Image source, Getty Images

• Brighton are unbeaten on the opening day of the Premier League season in each of the last five campaigns (W4 D1), with today being the first time they've drawn their opening fixture (W5 L3 prior).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Brighton's performance

What did you make of Fulham's display?

Come back to this page on Sunday to find a selection of your replies

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler hands a Premier League debut to left-back Maxim De Cuyper while fellow newbies Diego Coppola and Olivier Boscagli are on the bench.

Brighton XI: Verbuggen, Dunk, van Hecke, Wieffer, De Cuyper, O'Riley, Ayari, Baleba, Minteh, Mitoma, Rutter.

Subs: Steele, Gruda, Welbeck, Milner, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Gomez, Veltman, Coppola.

Fulham's only signing of the summer, goalkeeper, Benjamin Lecomte is on the bench.

Fulham XI: Leno, Tete, Bassey, Anderson, Cuenca, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, Iwobi, Jimenez, King.

Subs: Lecomte, Reed, Muniz, Cairney, Adama, Pereira, Castagne, Diop, Emile Smith Rowe.

Five matches make up Saturday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Aston Villa v Newcastle (12:30)

• Brighton v Fulham

• Sunderland v West Ham - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Tottenham v Burnley - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Wolves v Manchester City (17:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

I had a nightmare predicting Fulham last season because they were less consistent than usual at home, but picked up a few unexpected points away.

They haven't really added to their squad this summer, but under Marco Silva they are still a decent team who play attractive football.

It's Brighton I am backing here though, even if I do wonder what effect Joao Pedro leaving will have on the Seagulls - who were so exciting in attack at times last season.

The Seagulls have signed young Greek striker Charalampos Kostoulas, who has a big reputation but he is only 18 years old, so they will be relying on wily old Danny Welbeck - as well as Kaoru Mitoma - while Kostoulas adapts.

We had Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler on this week's Monday Night Club and it was really interesting to listen to him talk about all aspects of management.

Hurzeler said they had turned down bids for Mitoma in the past. We know Brighton's model is to sell players, but Hurzeler clearly has got ambition himself - and while players like Mitoma are there, they are going to be in the top half of the table.

I was thinking of being bold and starting the season by backing them to get a big win, but I'm going to be sensible - for once.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

Fulham ended last season with five defeats in their final seven matches but have failed to strengthen their squad over the summer, prompting concern from head coach Marco Silva.

Speaking ahead of their opening game away to Brighton, Silva said he was surprised by how "passive" the club had been, adding "I knew what I wanted and the plan was there but it hasn't happened – right now we need to reinforce".

The Whites are in talks with Shakhtar Donetsk for Brazilian winger Kevin, who could eventually cost a club-record fee of £40m, but to date they have brought in just one first-team player, fewer than any other Premier League club. Their solitary signing so far, 34-year-old goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte, joined for approximately £400,000, meaning the west London side also rank last for total spending.

Silva admitted on Thursday "in some positions we are very short in numbers" but he can at least take heart from results in pre-season. Fulham have won five of their six friendly games, including last weekend's 1-0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt courtesy of a Raul Jimenez free-kick.

Brighton's outlay of approximately £68m is the seventh lowest by a top-flight side this summer, but it is worth noting they spent a league-high £196.6m last summer plus a further £40.8m in January.

One of the key questions for Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler is how to replace forward Joao Pedro following the Brazilian's £55m move to Chelsea.

The Seagulls have coped with the loss of star players before. When Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Alexis Mac Allister were sold, the profits were reinvested in emerging stars and that's the strategy they will again follow this season.

Two of the latest acquisitions are Greek forwards Charalampos Kostoulas, 18, and Stefanos Tzimas, 19.

Kostoulas arrived this summer for almost £30m after just 35 appearances and seven goals for Olympiakos. Tzimas, meanwhile, was signed earlier this year for over £20m but allowed to remain with Nuremberg for the remainder of the season. He ended the campaign with 12 goals in 24 appearances for the German second-tier club.

Both players are inexperienced and expected to be eased into action gradually but, given Brighton's track record, are likely to make their mark before too long.

Image source, Getty Images

We have looked into the age profile of Bournemouth's players for the 2025-26 season and recorded what percentage of minutes each of them played last campaign.

For the purpose of this exercise, we have deemed those under 24 as youth, between 24 and 30 as in their peak years and anyone over 30 to be a veteran.

The green represents new signings, who naturally did not play, red are those that have since left the club and yellow are all those that remain.

Brighton have used their summer to bring in youthful options.

If we consider the data offer below, we can see the green dots represent new signings and they skew heavily towards the 'youth' section of the chart.

Fabian Hurzeler has also so far kept three of the players who clocked the most minutes last season on Kaoru Mitoma, Carlos Baleba, Jean Paul van Hecke and Bart Verbruggen.

The sale of Pervis Estupinan to AC Milan saw a player leave who balanced plenty of minutes last season with a 'peak' age.

Saffie Yates
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Fulham at Amex Stadium (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Hurzeler feels "ready" for the new season: "The main thing is self-belief, focusing on our ability and quality."

• He is "very happy" with Brighton's transfer window "Most players are fit. If the transfer window [were to] close tomorrow, I would be happy."

• On new signing 18-year-old Charalampos Kostoulas: "We need to be patient. Just because we spent £30 million doesn't mean he'll start immediately."

• The Greek striker "needs time to adapt to the intensity" so may not be involved against Fulham.

• On the future of in-demand midfielder Carlos Baleba: "I'm very, very confident he will be a Brighton player. He seems to be in a good place and enjoying it with his team-mates. He's an option to start."

• He praised 39-year-old midfielder James Milner, who extended his stay at Brighton in the summer : "It's incredible how hard he works, how ready he seems to be, how ambitious he is. You can still feel his desire and hunger to achieve something."

• On injuries in his squad: "It's a big change from last season. Only Adam Webster and Solly March are long-term injuries. All other players are available."

• He is not concerned about how to fill in for Joao Pedro, who scored 30 goals in 70 games for Brighton before joining Chelsea in the summer: "We can't replace him one to one, but we can replace him as a group. We have many players who can score goals."

• On team strategy: "We can't challenge other teams with financial resources, but we can challenge them with togetherness, work ethic, playing intensely, and being fearless."

• On whether it feels different going into his second season: "Everything feels a bit more familiar, but the Premier League is still the best league in the world with many challenges we have to face."

• He says Fulham will be "a big challenge" for Brighton: "They are a very mature team. Their biggest strength is their compactness. They do everything together and are very well-organised."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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BBC Sport's TV and radio commentators have picked three Brighton players who will be worth watching out for in the next few months.

Diego Coppola

Age: 21 Position: Centre-back Country: Italy

James Fielden: I saw Coppola play twice at the European Under-21 Championship in the summer, and it was against Spain and Germany, so good games to judge him against top teams.

Brighton had clearly done their homework previous to the Euros, with the deal announced mid-competition, and you can see why they're ready to drop him into their evolving backline.

Strong and commanding in the middle, Coppola was also keen to play out over short and long distances, and that, along with other metrics, clearly impressed the Seagulls.

Harry Howell

Age: 17 Position: Midfield Country: England

Guy Mowbray: I must confess to never having seen him play... but he's a name that's been mentioned to me by quite a few people this summer - some of whom I consider to be VERY good judges!

As was once said about another teenager, external, who made his mark on the Premier League - "remember the name".

Jonathan Pearce: Brighton fans will be praying that Carlos Baleba stays put and that Yankuba Minteh continues his dramatic improvement. But there's another youngster ready to leap off the Amex talent conveyor belt.

I was mightily impressed by Howell's cameo debut in the penultimate game of last season. He helped win the game with his front-foot, fearless, direct running at the opposition.

His cousin Jack Hinshelwood had a big breakthrough season last time around - 2025-26 could be the year for Harry.

Charalampos Kostoulas

Age: 18 Position: Forward Country: Greece

Mark Scott: Brighton's track history of buying low and selling high is the envy of city traders, but their £30m outlay on Charalampos Kostoulas is the second most they've ever spent on a player.

The Seagulls rarely get it wrong, though and haven't blinked at splashing that much on an 18-year-old with just a season of senior football behind him.

He's shown versatility, having impressed as a number nine at academy level, before switching successfully to a second striker role once he made the first team at Olympiakos.

His physicality has also caught the eye, with one of his former coaches saying the strength he has for his age is "extraordinary". Maybe he'll turn out to be yet another Brighton bargain.

Read the full piece