Bold McShane’s return to scene of memorable Brighton win

PAUL McSHANE’S move to Selhurst Park at the beginning of 2012 was quite bold considering he had memorably scored a winner for Brighton on that ground on 18 October 2005.

But did he actually get the final touch on the goal that gave the Seagulls their first win at Selhurst Park in more than 20 years?

*McShane launches himself at Seb Carole’s corner and was credited with getting a touch on Albion’s winner at Selhurst*

‘McShane 78 minutes’ went into the record books and it certainly looked like he’d got his head, or maybe his shoulder, on the ball as it went into the box from Seb Carole’s corner.

But Albion’s skipper Charlie Oatway offered some playful banter about it in his matchday programme column for the following home game.

“Paul McShane claimed he scored the goal, but he is fibbing,” said Charlie. “Seb’s corner went over my head and as I turned round I saw Emerson Boyce head it. Fair play to the compulsive liar though for actually having the front to go on TV and radio and claim it, saying ‘I managed to get something on it’.

*Guy Butters credits McShane with that winner*

“After hearing about the number of fans who won thousands of pounds betting on the 1-0 scoreline and ‘Ginger’ scoring the winning goal, all the lads reckon he’s on a percentage of the take!”

*McShane salutes the delighted Albion fans*

Such was the enormity of the result at that time that each player’s white shirt from that evening was put up for auction by the club with fans bidding hundreds of pounds for the sweaty mementoes!

The club also produced 1,260 limited edition versions of the then one-off shirt embroidered with the match date and score and they released a DVD ‘One Night at the Palace’ for fans to remember it by.

“Crystal Palace was a special night, because of the rivalry,” said McShane. “It was a great atmosphere and scoring that goal was brilliant.”

Fast forward six and a bit years and, with McShane out of favour at Hull, Palace took him on loan to Selhurst and, as if the fates would have it, one of his first appearances for the Eagles was in a 1-1 draw against Brighton – making their first return to Croydon since that 2005 victory.

*One of McShane’s first Palace games was against Brighton*

On January transfer deadline day 2012, the game finished with honours even, although Inigo Calderon came close to snatching another win in stoppage time.

It proved to be a game of two penalties, both involving Albion winger Will Buckley. After Wilfred Zaha went down in the box under Buckley’s challenge, Chris Martin netted from 12 yards for Palace in the 64^th minute.

At the other end, ten minutes later, Buckley was fouled in the penalty area by Nathaniel Clyne and Ashley Barnes equalised from the spot for the Albion.

Shortly afterwards, McShane’s loan was extended until the end of the season and he told yourlocalguardian: “I am enjoying my time here and I was hoping I would be able to stay until the end of the season.

“I have to be playing as many games as I can if I am going to get in the (Republic of Ireland) squad for the Euros and I just needed to get away from Hull as I wasn’t getting a chance to play in a regular spot.”

Palace’s first choice central defensive pairing were Anthony Gardner and Paddy McCarthy, but McShane said: “It is good to have a bit of competition and I will be pushing them all way.”

The temporary move worked out as he’d hoped after he made nine appearances (plus three as a sub) in Dougie Freeman’s side in their 17^th place finish in the Championship table, seven places below Brighton.

He was included in Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for the 2012 Euros although he didn’t get a game as the Irish fell to three defeats in Group C, to Croatia, Spain and Italy.

McShane had made his full international debut six years earlier (against the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road) and he recalled: “The atmosphere was amazing. I was up against Jan Koller, who was about 6ft 8in, so I decided to give him a right bash. I ended up getting man of the match.”

He won 29 of his caps by the time he was 24 and scored an own goal on the stroke of half-time in his 33^rd and final appearance for his country, a 2-2 draw with Slovakia in March 2016 (by which time he’d moved on to Reading).

The Palace loan was his second successive temporary spell away from Hull: in February 2011, he joined a Barnsley side who had his old Man Utd and West Brom teammate Luke Steele in goal and one-time Albion loanee Diego Arismendi in midfield.

The last of his 10 games for the Tykes had come on 17 April 2011 when he was sent off for violent conduct after 69 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough.

But his time on Humberside was not up, because, when Steve Bruce took over as manager at Hull in June 2012, McShane returned to the City fold. Fans of a certain vintage also remember it was his goal against Cardiff on the final day of the 2012-13 season that took the Tigers back up to the Premier League. He went on to hold down a regular place in the top flight for two seasons.

McShane wasn’t in the Hull side that beat Brighton 2-1 in a FA Cup fifth round replay in 2014, after a 1-1 draw at the Amex, nor the one that beat Sunderland 3-0 in the quarter-finals, but he got on as a substitute in the final when Arsenal overturned the Tigers’ early lead to win the game 3-2 after extra time.

“I’d been injured but got back just before the final,” said McShane. “It was a sickener to lose in extra time after being in such a good position.”

In a retrospective piece for the Hull Daily Mail in March 2020, Philip Buckingham recounted: “McShane was an extraordinary figure during an association that spanned seven campaigns at the KCOM Stadium. His talent and technique failed to elevate him above team-mates, but the defender’s perseverance and drive encountered few rivals.

“McShane found the resolve to conjure more comebacks than Frank Sinatra. Nigel Pearson, Nick Barmby and Steve Bruce all swung the exit door open, encouraging McShane to move on, but on every occasion he came bouncing back to prominence. Only when his contract expired with City condemned to the Championship (in 2015) did he finally reach the end of the road.”

McShane told the reporter: “The beauty was in the struggle. And there was a lot of struggle.

“But that’s why the relationship between me and the club grew so strong. There were some tough times but I always had a feeling I could turn it around. I suppose I did in the end.”

McShane ended up making a total of 136 appearances for Hull, and he reflected: “It was the best times of my football career but also the worst times as well, to be honest.

“There were some difficult moments in there but that was the beauty of it all. I think the bond was strong because I was on the journey with everyone.

“Every time I stepped on the pitch I gave my all. It sounds silly but I would probably die on the pitch to be honest with you.

“That’s just the way I’ve always played the game and just the way I am. Football is everything to me. Competing is everything to me and the fans recognised that.

“But every time I thought I was getting somewhere, I was always hit with another setback. It was difficult and at times I wanted to give up in all honesty.

“And that was to give up football, not just being at Hull City. I was just so fed up with the setbacks. But I saw it out. I never gave up.”

His final Hull appearance was in a 0-0 Premier League draw at home to Manchester United, and reflecting on the end of his turbulent Tigers tenure, he told the Hull paper’s Buckingham: “My career has been one long fight in a lot of ways.

“Even before I came over from Ireland, you’d have people tell you that not many made it, only one per cent stay and make a career of it.

“I came over thinking they’d have to take me home in a body bag. There was not a chance I wasn’t going to make it. I was determined to do everything I possibly could to make it as a professional footballer.

“Sometimes I look back and think ‘Jesus, if I could’ve just relaxed a bit.’ I was maybe too tense about it all. Even in the youth team at Man United I was like a mad man, so determined to make it.

“I was always told I wasn’t big enough to be a centre-back. I was always told I wasn’t quick enough or I wasn’t good enough technically. So, I just kept on going to try and prove those people wrong. It meant so much to me.”

After a couple of seasons playing in League One for Rochdale, McShane returned to United as an academy coach but spent the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach at League One Huddersfield.

In July 2026, he was appointed first team coach at Lincoln City, who were newly-promoted to the Championship. He also coaches the Republic of Ireland under-21s.

“I think the ambition has to be to become a number one eventually,” he said. “But I always wanted to make sure I was ready for it rather than jumping straight in. I want to continue my football education and hopefully move into a job where I know I’ve covered every angle if I want to become a successful manager.”

The young Lithuanian defender who suffered with the Seagulls

ONE-TIME Albion academy player Kipras Kažukolovas was a league title winner with European Conference League opponents FK Kauno Žalgiris.

The Lithuanian central defender left home at 16 to sign for the Seagulls but was plagued by serious injury and was out of action for months at a time.

Kažukolovas is now playing for Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Astana after his hopes of reaching the English Premier League with Brighton were dashed in 2021.

Between 2021 and 2023 he made 49 appearances for Lithuanian top tier side Žalgiris, helping them win the league title and the country’s top cup competition in 2022.

He was in Vladimir Cheburin’s squad for their participation in the 2022-23 Champions League qualifiers and subsequent Europa League and UEFA Conference League games. But they finished bottom of the Conference League’s group H with only one win, two draws and three defeats. Kažukolovas played in a 2-2 draw with Basel for whom on-loan Albion striker Andi Zeqiri scored and went on for the second half in a 2-1 defeat to Slovan Bratislava.

Born on 20 November 2000 in Kursenai, Lithuania, on his arrival at Brighton he wasn’t the only Lithuanian at the club: Justinas Gasiūnas – also the goalkeeping coach for the Lithuanian national team – was an Albion coach for nearly eight years between 2014 and 2021.

The youngster’s early promise came to a grinding halt when, in 2017, he suffered a triple injury which in total took 18 months to recover from.

*Kipras puts pen to paper for the Albion*

“I started my career at the club on a really high note,” he said.

“I hadn’t lost a single match with the youth team before the injury occurred. I tore my cruciate and collateral knee ligaments and also damaged my meniscus.”

When he was still in pain after eight months of rehabilitation, a follow-up test revealed he had re-torn his cruciate ligaments so further, more complex, surgery followed.

“At first, I was quite upset; I knew that living without sports would be incredibly difficult, especially since I hadn’t played for such a long time already,” he recounted in a 2020 Facebook interview. “It was hard to call my friends and parents to break the news. It really wasn’t easy—especially mentally.”

However, he added: “When I first arrived, I lived with host families; they were a huge help during that time, welcoming me warmly and looking after me.

“I have nothing but praise for Brighton FC – the atmosphere and friendliness are outstanding. They genuinely care about the community, as well as the players’ health and mental well-being. Everyone helps one another.”

In another interview, with delfi.lt, he said of the club: “The entire organisation is top notch. All the youth teams train alongside the first team at the same complex. Professionalism is evident both on and off the pitch. Chris Hughton was a warm, down-to-earth person who would interact even with the under-15 and under-16 players.”

And he added: “After my injury, I realised just how hard you have to work. It’s not as if you can just go for a casual run and become a star.”

Kažukolovas struck a realistic tone when asked in that Facebook interview to rate his chances of making it through to the first team. “Of course, the desire is there, but there’s no point in getting ahead of myself; a lot depends on how this season unfolds,” he said.

“I hope to go at least a few months without even the slightest injury so I can get back to my usual form. As for the next few years – who knows? I’m working hard and giving it my all.

“Generally speaking, only 1% of players from youth academies make it to the English Premier League. I think that’s a very small percentage, but there are plenty of examples where players I trained and played alongside in the youth team successfully made the step up to the first team and are performing really well.

“It all comes down to the work you put in and, of course, how you’re feeling and your physical condition.”

Kažukolovas clearly appreciated the opportunities to interact with the senior men’s squad, explaining: “Everyone is friendly. The dressing rooms are right next to each other, and we share facilities like the saunas and cold baths.

“The environment is truly excellent; top-level specialists monitor every move. I’m in a really good organisation with a professional structure and top-tier players.”

In June 2020, Kažukolovas was one of six academy players offered new deals by the Albion (Warren O’Hora, Adam Debois, Romeric Yapi, Ryan Longman and Danny Cashman were the others).

Reporting it for The Argus, Brian Owen said of Kažukolovas: “Fans will have seen little of this Lithuanian central defender, even though he joined the club almost three years ago now.

“His time with the Seagulls has been badly affected by injury but he was highly thought of in the under-18s and can also operate as a defensive central midfielder.” Alas at the end of the following season, Kažukolovas and Cashman were released along with Peter Gwargis, Rocco Rees and Stefan Vukoje.

Their coach, Mark Beard, told The Athletic’s Andy Naylor in May 2021 how those conversations were the toughest part of the job. “It’s tough at any level, 16s, 18s, because you are killing their dream,” he said. “We’ve got a very good exit policy with the players, try to look after them, get the best club for them.

“They’re in a great environment at Brighton, they are used to a lot of stuff given to them, so when they go to these other clubs it’s going to be a bit of an eyeopener to them.”

On his return to Lithuania, Kažukolovas was nursing a broken arm and played a handful of games with an amateur side called Catastrophe before signing for Žalgiris.

Since switching to Astana, he was part of the side that won the 2024 Kazakhstan League Cup, beating FC Zhenis 2-0 in the final.

For a player who has endured significant injury setbacks in his short career, his remarks in that 2020 Facebook interview are prophetic.

“You might think you’re a good player – you have a team, you’re earning money – but a single pivotal moment can change everything: a serious injury that might haunt you for the rest of your career,” he said.

“Then you have to rethink everything. I went through the same thing; when I first arrived and was highly rated, I felt great. But having lived through that whole experience, I’ve come to truly value the times when I can train at full intensity, play, and prove my worth.”

From Brighton player of the season to ‘bull in a China shop’ for Sunderland

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND international defender Paul McShane most definitely had an up and down playing career spanning 20 years and involving 400+ games for 10 clubs.

He left a lasting impression of the right kind in a season-long loan from Manchester United at Brighton who he joined in the Championship aged just 19, as I reported in my 1 May 2018 blog post.

He won both the player of the season award and the away supporters’ player of the season award, and Steve Claridge, in his Scouting report for The Guardian, wrote: “That’s some achievement for a loan player – particularly one who knows he is unlikely to sign for the club – and it says an awful lot about his attitude and application.”

That sentiment was echoed by Albion boss Mark McGhee who said after McShane’s initial loan spell came to an abrupt end when he damaged right ankle ligaments in a 1-1 draw away to Cardiff: “He has performed consistently for us during his time here and as a loan player he has also shown a commitment to the cause way above the call of duty.”

A matchday programme piece added: “Paul’s cool reading of the game and his ability to overcome some of the most effective attacking players in the division marked him out as a fine prospect, and he proved competitive in the air and on the ground, his pace and positional sense being a real asset.”

Alas, with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić ahead of him at United, not to mention Wes Brown, he was unable to break into the United first team and in August 2006 McShane left Old Trafford for Championship West Brom together with goalkeeper Luke Steele as makeweights in the deal that took goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak to United.

United legend Bryan Robson was manager of the Baggies at the time and Tony Mowbray took over in the autumn. They eventually finished fourth in the division with McShane playing 42 games as they agonisingly lost to Derby County in the play-off final.

But McShane was destined for the Premier League anyway because Sunderland, under Roy Keane, snapped him up for £1.5m, one of 12 new signings for the newly-promoted Black Cats.

“It was a huge move for me to be just 21 and given an opportunity to play in the Premier League, especially at a club like Sunderland,” he told the Sunderland Echo.

“I was aware of the amazing fanbase and it was an exciting time around the club. I was really looking forward to working with Roy Keane, who I’d come across before when I was a youngster at Manchester United. He was my idol growing up, so the move felt perfect.”

Expanding on Keane’s influence, he said: “He was passionate, and his standards were top. I remember him as captain at Manchester United, and suddenly I was in the dressing room with him every day.

“I’d trained with him in pre-season friendlies, so I already knew the standards he kept. They were the highest I’ve ever seen. He demanded everything and had a presence about him. There was definitely a fear factor, but I was desperate to go out and play for him. He was someone you didn’t want to let down.”

McShane made his debut against Spurs and recalled: “It was amazing. We’d had a really good pre-season and I remember playing Juventus at the Stadium of Light, where the atmosphere was incredible.

“Before the first game I was very nervous because it was my Premier League debut and we were facing some huge names. I remember wondering how it was going to go.

“But, once the game started, I just thought: ‘Let’s go and face the challenge.’ We fought tooth and nail to stay in the game and then Michael Chopra scored the winner late on. It was a perfect start and an amazing feeling. I still remember the noise of the crowd when that goal went in.”

However, in his second game he scored an own goal, diverting a Stephen Kelly header into his own net, although Sunderland recovered to salvage a 2-2 draw at Birmingham. He went on to make 21 appearances (plus one as sub) as the Black Cats finished just three points clear of the drop zone, but, by the player’s own admission, he suffered at times.

“I loved it at the start when I was playing every week and learning loads. But being so young and playing at centre-back, I did make mistakes,” he conceded in a March 2026 matchday programme interview. “Some weeks I was really good, and other weeks I wasn’t. You have to swallow those mistakes, and it can be tough. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but when I left, I felt like I had unfinished business at Sunderland. I loved playing for the fans there.”

Sunderland fans, it seems, didn’t love him though. For instance, Kevin Moeliker on Roker Report said of that own goal in only his second match: “Sadly, it was a sign of things to come as McShane resembled a bull in a China shop: rash, reckless and simply all over the place.”

On the same forum, Paddy Hollis recounted a game against Manchester United on Boxing Day 2007: “Paul McShane had a mad five seconds where he got the ball, slipped on the ball, retained the ball, and then passed it straight to a United player. This summed up his Sunderland career, for me.”

While Connor Bromley concluded: “McShane was all about heart and hard work, but that is really it because he never quite displayed the characteristics of being a decent defender in the Premier League.”

Maybe the fans would have been more forgiving if it hadn’t all gone wrong in a Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park in April 2008 when Michael Owen scored twice as United won 2-0. “I played right-back and remember Owen nipping in front of me for a header,” said McShane. “I struggled in that game, and it was a tough one to take. I just got it wrong and mistimed it.

“As a defender, you’ve got to look at yourself afterwards and think about what you could have done better. I knew how much it meant to the fans, and to be honest, I didn’t want to leave my house for a while after that.”

Sunderland let him leave on a half-season loan to newly-promoted Hull City in August 2008 and although Keane’s successor Ricky Sbragia recalled him to Sunderland in January 2009, he moved permanently to the Tigers the following summer.

He reckoned the best years of his career were spent at Hull, although over seven seasons even there it was something of a rollercoaster ride, his time in East Yorkshire punctuated by frustration and spells in the wilderness: he was twice sent out on loans to Championship sides, to Barnsley and to Crystal Palace.

• See my pre-Palace blog post for more on McShane’s topsy turvy career.

Improvement under Amorim led to big money Gunners move

*Young Viktor Gyökeres in action for Brighton against his future employer*

IT WAS SAID Coventry City banked a club-record £17.5million with a further £3.5m in add-ons (and Albion earned a decent sell-on percentage too) when Viktor Gyökeres left the UK for Sporting Lisbon.

If Gyökeres was just warming up at Coventry, as I described in my previous blog post, he caught fire at Sporting, scoring an astonishing 43 goals in 50 games in his first season. And it got better in his second season, racking up 54 goals in 52 appearances.

ESPN asked Sporting legend and former Portugal centre-back Daniel Carriço for his assessment, and he said: “Gyökeres improved not only as a player, but Ruben (Amorim) has a lot of dynamics as a coach, wanting to play with the ball, and Gyökeres was like a new weapon for him.

“He was the biggest weapon against all the teams and Ruben loved to have him in his first XI. Amorim improved his game in all the ways, not only physically, but technically he improved a lot. He knows how to move and beat defenders.”

His near goal-a-game scoring exploits for Sporting helped them to back-to-back league titles and also the Portuguese Cup and after playing against Arsenal in the Champions League in 2024-25, Mikel Arteta swooped to sign him for the Gunners for a reported £63.5m.

“I just felt that it was the right club for me,” said Gyökeres. “When I was playing against Arsenal last season, I could really feel it was a very strong team and very difficult to play against. That made me choose Arsenal, and of course, all the history the club has and the massive fanbase.”

He was touched by the support he received from Arsenal fans before he’d even completed his move and said: “It’s been amazing to see all the support that they have already given me before I even arrived. That’s what it’s all about.

“It’s going to be very nice to see them in the stadiums as well. To be a part of this club and to score in this kit and with this badge in front of all the supporters, I can’t wait. It will be an amazing feeling.”

Although he scored three times in four matches in the early part of the season, the player faced a certain amount of criticism which he addressed in an exclusive interview with Patrick Davison of Sky Sports.

“You have to believe in yourself and keep going, no matter what happens – whether that’s on the pitch or outside,” he said. “I don’t think you have to take in what everyone around you says. You don’t have to listen to everything you hear.”

He’d got used to the scrutiny in Portugal and told Davison: “They live for football there as well. So, in one sense, it’s a bit similar but of course it’s much, much bigger here. They analyse everything you do. But that’s the way it is, there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Maybe it isn’t my no. 1 priority to read everything that’s being said or what people write. It’s just think about the things you can control and do those things right.

Gyökeres went on to top score with 21 goals across all competitions from 40 starts and 15 sub appearances as Arsenal won the Premier League title – their first for 23 years.

However, midway through the season, when the Swede had only scored six in 19 appearances across all competitions, Arteta faced questions about his big money signing.

“The level of attention on him hasn’t changed since when he signed to today,” Arteta told ESPN. “It is normal. Everybody was so excited to bring a nine into the club. We did it. We brought a player with an incredible goalscoring record who had to adapt to the league. He had no pre-season.

“The first few weeks were difficult because physically he wasn’t in his best state and he is a player who needs that like any other player in this league almost to perform at that level. Then he kicked on, he had a really good period and he got injured.

“Now, I saw a lot of positive things in the last two games that he’s done. We need to continue to tweak and understand him a little bit better in certain situations and he needs to do the same. But that’s about time and we have full support for him.”

The manager was confident better things were to come from the player and added: “You can imagine the global impact that you are going to have to deal with when you come to a big club and the expectation is as it is.

“But after you have to live it. Living it is always slightly different to your imagination. He is doing it with a lot of desire. His energy level, his commitment is absolutely top and we are all here to help him because we have all been here, we all need time, there are always moments where the strikers score more goals or less goals. We need to be there for him.”

As well as upping his club strike rate in the second half of the season, it was Gyökeres’ 89th-minute goal that sealed Sweden’s World Cup play-off victory over Poland in Stockholm in March.

Sweden boss Graham Potter was baffled that in spite of all the achievements, Gyökeres had still attracted flak in certain quarters.

Interviewed by Sky Sports ahead of the World Cup, he said: “The team have won the Premier League and got to the Champions League final, and he’s played most of those games, but he still gets the criticism.

“That’s the world we live in. But then you just look at him and you look at how much work he does and how he goes about his business. He’s an incredible character.”

Sweden didn’t cover themselves in glory at the World Cup, finishing third in their group and then being eliminated in a 3-0 defeat to France.

But Gyökeres got a goal and two assists as Sweden beat Tunisia 5-1 and he later told FIFA.com: “It can’t get much bigger than the World Cup. It’s incredible and I’m very proud.

“I think we have extremely talented players. With time, I think we’re going to be very, very good.”

Do Brighton have any regrets about letting Gyökeres go when they did?

Ever-diplomatic chief executive Barber told Sky Sports: “It depends on whether you say slipped through or progressed through. I would prefer to say progressed through.

“It’s always good when you spot a young talent, nurture them and you see them go on to even better things.”

Barber pointed out: “Viktor progressed exceptionally well – but he wanted to progress even further faster.

“At that time, we couldn’t guarantee him first-team football here. We were very happy to continue to loan Viktor so he could continue to progress.

“But I think it says a lot about Viktor himself that he wanted a more permanent base sooner. He eventually got that and the rest is history.”

Albion spell helped put young Lingard on path to success

JESSE LINGARD is now in his 30s and plying his trade in Brazil but Oscar Garcia’s Brighton gave the player invaluable experience in the second tier of English football before he became a Manchester United and England regular.

Lingard scored four times in 17 appearances in 2014 as the Seagulls reached the divisional play-off semi-finals which Derby County – Lingard’s next loan club – won over two legs.

He didn’t make as spectacular a debut for Brighton as he did for Birmingham earlier that (2013-14) season when he scored four times in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

But he did earn a controversial penalty at The New Den, when he was adjudged to have been fouled by Danny Shittu. Albion beat Millwall 1-0, Spaniard David Lopez scoring from the resultant spot kick. “It is shoulder to shoulder, if anything,” Millwall boss Ian Holloway later claimed. “I can’t say that there wasn’t enough contact because Danny is built like a proverbial.”

*Recognised for his contribution in Albion colours*

Lingard’s first goal for the Albion came in a dramatic 4-1 win at already-promoted Leicester City when he headed Stephen Ward’s cross past Kasper Schmeichel.

Having been on loan with the Foxes the previous season, he’d been getting a bit of stick from their supporters so he said: “I had to silence them a bit with my celebration. The goal had been coming and I was obviously pleased to score, especially with it being a header as well.”

Asked why he’d plumped for the loan at Brighton when other clubs were after him, Lingard told the matchday programme: “It’s a club that shares my philosophy on football and it’s very similar to how we play at United, so it was a move that suited me.”

For his part, Garcia described Lingard as “one of the most exciting young English strikers” and “a talent who has already shown he can play at Championship level”.

An extended feature on Lingard’s development appeared in the matchday programme for Albion’s game at Old Trafford in November 2017.

One of the coaches involved in his development, academy advisor Tony Whelan, said: “Jesse has had to be patient throughout his career. As a younger player, he was physically under-developed so he had to play a younger age group.

“That wasn’t easy, but he had the patience, intelligence and trust in the coaching staff to know that those decisions were made in his best interests, that we knew at some point he was going to grow. At some point, all that ability would be able to come out.

*Lingard celebrates with Leonardo Ulloa*

“He’s got a wonderful mindset, so his ability to come on and make an impact on the game is down to the fact he’s resilient, he has a wonderful mentality, and he is a great observer of the game. That comes out all the time in the way he deals with things. And on top of that, he has his excellent technical ability.”

Whelan added: “He’s only of slight build, so he’s developed great technical ability, good passing, dribbling, he’s a really good mover – very fluid, a wonderful mover – and he’s athletic without looking that athletic.”

The coach said: “You don’t get in our first-team squad without being a very accomplished player. He’s also playing for the national team fairly regularly. That’s testimony to Jesse’s abilities as an all-round footballer now.”

Coach Whelan summed up Lingard thus: “From the day he first walked into this football club at seven years of age, he always had a smile on his face. He’s always loved playing, always loved the game, always had wonderful enthusiasm, and in some ways he’s inspired the coaches with his love of the game and love of the ball.

“You never had to ask him to work hard, he was always running around, always energetic, always mischievous, and those are the qualities he brought.”

Having featured for England’s under 17s and under 21s, Lingard made his full England debut in October 2016 in a 2-0 win over Malta, he started five of England’s seven matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and over the course of five years won 32 caps for his country.

He scored England’s first and third goals on his penultimate appearance, in a World Cup qualifying 4-0 win over Andorra in September 2021, and his last game for England was against the same country the following month in a 5-0 away win.

In an interview with the Albion matchday programme for Brighton’s home game with United in 2017-18, Lingard reflected on his loan spell with the Seagulls and said: “I wanted to go to the club because I knew they were a good club with a great stadium and great fans – it was the perfect club to go on loan to.”

He added: “The stadium, the staff, the fans, you could see the ambition of the club. I always knew that the club would make it into the Premier League. It was heading in that direction for a couple of seasons.”

Lingard went on as a sub (for Marouane Fellaini) in the 2017-18 season finale when Albion beat United 1-0 courtesy of a 58^th-minute Pascal Gross goal. And he was a half-time replacement for Juan Mata when the following season began with the identical fixture, on that occasion the Seagulls once again the winners, 3-2, with Gross on the scoresheet from a penalty adding to goals from Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy; Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba (penalty) for United.

Although Lingard broke into the United first team under Louis Van Gaal and was a regular during Jose Mourinho’s reign, he fell out of favour with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and spent half the 2021-22 season on loan at West Ham.

He had an injury-wracked 2022-23 season at newly-promoted Nottingham Forest making 14 starts and six sub appearances under Steve Cooper and was one of five players released at the end of the campaign.

That spelled the end of his time in English football. He spent a month in the autumn training with Saudi Pro League side El-Attifaq, managed by Steven Gerrard at the time, and he played in a friendly and scored against Al Khaldiya, but a foreign player restriction meant he wasn’t eligible to play competitively and the following February he ventured to South Korea to play for FC Seoul in the country’s capital.

His home debut attracted a crowd of 51,670 – setting a new K League attendance record – and having not played competitively for eight months he struggled at the start. His coach Kim Gi-Dong even publicly criticised him for “a lack of effort and physicality”.

In an interview with BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel, Lingard spoke of coming to terms with playing in the humidity and dealing with a meniscus injury, and he said: “The tempo is high out here, the games are intense. At the start, I wasn’t fit, but once I found the rhythm I got used to it.”

Lingard said the move to the Far East had enabled him to enjoy his football again. “I’m out here to find peace. Happiness is peace at the end of the day. If you can find that, it doesn’t matter where you are.

He told Mokbel: “I’m still playing football and I’m enjoying myself. I still have many years of playing football ahead of me – I’m 32 but the stats don’t show that I’m 32.

“I can play for a long time. It has 100 per cent been the right choice. It was a fresh start, to get my happiness back playing football, that was the main thing.

“It’s been an amazing experience. Different cultures, the people are amazing, the city is amazing.

“I feel I’ve come on leaps and bounds mentally. I think the move has improved my outlook on life.”

Indeed, Lingard went on to establish himself as a key player for FC Seoul – making 66 appearances and contributing 18 goals – and was eventually made captain.

When he decided to call it a day in December 2025, he wrote on Instagram: “My time in South Korea has been unbelievable – the football, the atmosphere and the passion around this club have been top class.

“The love, support and the appreciation you have shown towards me for these last two years has been truly amazing. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to play for such a massive club.”

FC Seoul said in a statement: “He generated an extraordinary level of public attention and emerged as a symbolic figure not only for the club but for the entire K League.”

In March 2026, he pitched up at top Brazilian league side SC Corinthians Paulista, where he has been playing since.

Preparing in Brazil

Quick Vik sped to the very top after sluggish Albion start

VIKTOR GYÖKERES is certainly right up there in Brighton’s short list of ‘ones that got away’.

The striker left the Seagulls for Coventry in a £1m deal, went on to score almost a goal a game over two seasons for Sporting Lisbon, joined Arsenal for £63.5m in the summer of 2025, and played for Sweden at the 2026 World Cup finals.

His meteoric rise from Brighton ‘reject’ to one of Europe’s hottest strikers is a story that’s unsurprisingly been seized upon by various media outlets.

“Viktor, he was a young lad at the club and was he up to the level? Well, the manager (Chris Hughton) didn’t think he was up to the level,” former teammate Glenn Murray admitted when speaking with 10bet. “We were in a squad where we were in survival mode, and you couldn’t really bring lads in to develop them.

*A rare Brighton first team outing for Gyökeres against Manchester United*

“In all honesty, it was one of those situations where he made that hard decision to leave the Premier League and in hindsight, it was the right decision to leave.”

Murray added: “Did I see it coming what has happened? Probably not. It just shows what belief in yourself, other people’s belief and confidence can do for you.”

Born in Stockholm on 4 June 1998, Gyökeres was only five when he started playing football with IFK Aspudden-Tellus. He first drew the attention of football scouts after he had joined Stockholm-based club Brommapojkarna as a 16-year-old, initially as a winger.

“We saw that he had the abilities to be a No. 9 with his strength and breakthrough capacity and started to focus on those abilities,” Brommapojkarna scout David Eklund told ESPN. “He grew a lot and started to produce goals more and more regularly.”

He was also selected for Sweden’s national youth sides and he started to earn a ‘wonderkid’ tag. Some observers reckoned he was the country’s biggest attacking talent since Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Brighton agreed to sign him in September 2017 but he remained with Brommapojkarna until the end of their season, finishing in style with a hat-trick in his last game which earned the club promotion to the Allsvenskan as champions.

He arrived in Sussex in January 2018, initially linking up with the under-23s.

Ahead of the 2018-19 season, he saw action with the first team in pre-season friendlies, scoring the only goal of the game in a behind-closed-doors win over Nice at the French club’s training ground, going on for Murray on 34 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Swiss side St Gallen, replacing Solly March for the last 20 minutes of a 2-1 defeat to AFC Wimbledon and finally getting half an hour as sub for James Tilley in a 1-1 draw at Charlton.

That involvement led to him making his competitive first team debut in an inexperienced line-up that lost 1-0 at home to Southampton in the Carabao Cup. Fellow youngsters Ben Barclay and Will Collar also started and £17m (then) record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh made his debut.

January 2019 was a memorable month for Gyökeres: three days after going on as a late sub for Anthony Knockaert in Albion’s home FA Cup third round 3-1 win over Bournemouth, he made his full international debut for Sweden in a 1-0 defeat to Finland and on 11 January scored a goal in his country’s 2-2 draw with Iceland.

Gyökeres was then featured in the matchday programme for the home FA Cup fourth round 0-0 draw with West Brom, when he was again a sub. He started the replay at The Hawthorns when Albion won 3-1.

In the following round, he got on as a sub when replacing Jurgen Locadia in Albion’s 2-1 win over Derby County, although he wasn’t involved in the quarter or semi-final matches.

But with that small amount of first team involvement, and having scored seven times in 19 games for the under-23s, Gyökeres had done enough for Albion to offer him a new three-year contract.

After signing he said: “I like this club and it feels like they believe in me.

“I want to do my best to prove that I can do good things here. I moved to another country with another language, so of course it’s been different compared to Sweden, but I’ve settled in well.

“It’s been good to train with the first team and travel with them to away games this season – it’s been a great experience and hopefully there will be more of that in the future.

“Next season I want to do better than I’ve done this year. Of course, I’d like to play in the first team, but I’ve got to work hard in pre-season, see what happens and what is best for me.”

Alas, what happened next was the departure of Hughton and the arrival of Graham Potter (now Gyökeres’ manager with the Swedish national side).

Instead of continuing his development at Brighton, he was sent on a season-long loan to St Pauli (Fabian Hurzeler’s former side) in the second tier of the Bundesliga at the start of the 2019-20 season. He scored seven goals in 28 appearances in Germany before returning to the Albion.

When Gyökeres played his first game under Potter, it was at an empty Amex because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He scored (above) playing as a lone striker as Brighton beat Portsmouth 4-0 in the Carabao Cup after which Potter said: “He has got attributes that are different. It’s not the easiest to play up front on his own. He kept going, he got his rewards at the end.”

Although he also played in the same competition’s 2-0 win over Preston North End and 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, the arrival of Danny Welbeck put another obstacle in the way of his first team opportunities and he was loaned out to Potter’s former club, Championship side Swansea City.

On making the move, Gyökeres admitted Potter and his assistants Billy Reid and Bjorn Hamberg had all recommended the move to south Wales. “I spoke to them a little bit as they had been here,” he told Swansea’s website. “They only had good things to say and that made me more comfortable to come here and play here.”

However, the loan was cut short after he’d made only three starts plus nine sub appearances and scored just one goal for Steve Cooper’s side, in an FA Cup third-round game at Stevenage.

He returned to Brighton but several things aligned that resulted in him joining Coventry City for the remainder of the season.

Chris Badlan, then head of recruitment for the Sky Blues, told ESPN: “Viktor is someone me and my chief scout at the time, Stuart Benthom, knew about when he was playing out in Sweden.

“As a scout, you need to know who the best 16/17-year-olds are who are playing on the continent. Brighton had signed him so we followed him in their under-23s, he then went to St. Pauli and we just kept tracking him like you always do.”

Coventry already had Albion’s Leo Østigård on loan and he convinced Gyökeres to join him and, as Badlan pointed out: “We had two or three centre-forwards injured at the same time so we could show him the opportunity. It all married up because he wanted to play and we needed a striker straight away.”

After scoring three times in 19 appearances, Gyökeres joined Coventry permanently in July 2021, reportedly for £1m, with manager Mark Robins saying: “Viktor is a talented striker with good power, pace and movement, and great potential. He showed a terrific attitude when he was with us on loan.

“He grew in confidence, and we hope that he will continue to show the same improvement and desire.”

According to Badlan, that summer Gyökeres spent his holiday time working hard on his conditioning. “He worked on his strengths. He was already a powerful runner but, all of a sudden, his shoulders, he got a bit more square, stronger in his core. It enabled him to roll defenders better.”

Badlan also reckoned much credit for the player’s development should go to former Manchester United forward Robins and his assistant Adi Viveash, who was used to nurturing talent having spent 10 years with Chelsea’s academy and under-23s.

“They polished the rough diamond that he was. They simplified his game. They worked with him in identifying his best attributes.

“Mark, being an ex-striker, helped Viktor understand his body, getting his positioning right, where to make runs, when to get the timing right.”

And it paid off big time. He began the season with nine goals in his first 11 games finished the season as top scorer with 18 goals and repeated the feat in 2022-23, finishing on 22 as City made it to the Championship play-off final but lost on penalties to Luton Town.

It was at Coventry where he began his distinctive goal celebration – covering half his face with interlocking fingers to resemble a mask a la Bane, the villain in 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises.

Reporter Andy Turner, who has covered Coventry for the Coventry Telegraph for more than 20 years, was asked his opinion of the player by several media outlets.

“In training, he was known to be a little bit grumpy, and that was largely due to the fact that he wanted everything done the right way,” said Turner. “He had very high standards and made demands on his teammates. He was quite a serious guy off the pitch.

“On the pitch, he worked hard and was just really strong and a willing runner off the ball, a real team player as well. He was at his best when he had the ball at his feet and was running at defenders doing his thing.”

Similar thoughts came from Josh Kerr, who played in the same Albion under-23 side as Gyökeres. Interviewed by Sky Sports, Kerr said: “He’s probably one of the most ruthless players that I’ve seen when he’s on the halfway line and he’s going to goal from the left.

“It was just the pace and power, sometimes teams couldn’t cope with that.”

*November 2022 player of the month award*

Kerr highlighted the Swede’s willingness to put in a shift for the team, saying: “He would do it without you having to ask him – which is massive for certain teams or managers.

“He was just a good guy and that’s what you get from him. Works hard, does his job for the team.

“We obviously rated him highly then but we didn’t think he would kick on as much as he has, which has been quite incredible.”

The Telegraph’s Turner heaped praise on the player, saying: “He’s so strong on the ball, he protects the ball really well, he will take on two or three players in the box and will somehow get past them.

“He is a formidable striker. He is like an old school centre-forward in stature but he is very good with the ball at his feet. Technically he is good but he is very strong, it’s difficult to shrug him off the ball and he plays with a swagger.”

Maybe if Coventry had reached the Premier League in 2023, he would have stayed but plenty of clubs had noted his scoring prowess and, with a year left on his contract, he opted to move to Portugal to play for Sporting Lisbon under Ruben Amorim.

• See my pre-Arsenal blog post for what happened next.

From “Messi’ to messy: the loan Seagull struggling to take off

A YEAR AGO Facundo Buonanotte thought he’d made a dream move – a season-long loan from Brighton to Chelsea (reportedly for a £2m fee).

He had been on the brink of a similar temporary move to Leeds when the chance of switching to Stamford Bridge arose almost literally at the last minute.

Within a fortnight, he made his debut in a 2-2 draw away to Brentford in the Premier League, playing behind Joao Pedro and alongside Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens, only to be subbed off at half-time.

Ten days later, he played and scored in Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Lincoln in the League Cup.

His autumn wasn’t entirely wasted because he also started in two more Chelsea League Cup games – a 4-3 win away to Wolves and a 3-1 win at Cardiff – and gained European experience in the Champions League with starts v Benfica and Ajax and as a sub on for Joao Pedro v Qarabağ.

There were no more league appearances, though, and it subsequently emerged he only got to play earlier in the season because of the injury absences of Cole Palmer and Liam Delap.

When asked to explain Buonanotte’s lack of involvement, coach Enzo Maresca said: “Facu is working well. He played many games at the beginning because Cole was injured, Liam was injured, so we had more space. There’s not any reason [other than that].”

Buonanotte got one start under Maresca’s successor Liam Rosenior in Chelsea’s 5-1 FA Cup third round win at Charlton, but because of his limited game time with the Londoners his loan was cut short.

Instead of returning to parent club Brighton, he finally got to move to Leeds on a half-season loan and Jason Ayto, Albion’s sporting director at the time, said: “Facundo wants to play and he demonstrated in his loan to Leicester City last season the impact he is able to have in the Premier League when he does.

“This is a great move for all parties and we looking forward to seeing how he continues his development with Leeds United.

“We wish him well for the remainder of the season and look forward to welcoming him back in the summer.”

Having played in the FA Cup for Chelsea, historically he would have been ruled out of featuring in the competition for Leeds, but the rule changed ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, allowing so-called cup-tied players to represent two clubs.

So, it meant Buonanotte was able to start Leeds’ fourth round FA Cup tie away to Birmingham City – but he was withdrawn at half-time in a game that United won 4-2 on penalties after it finished 1-1.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke said: “He didn’t have his best game in the FA Cup but it’s also a bit realistic. If you bring a player in who has rarely played a game, this is what happens sometimes. He’s in a challenging position.”

In a slightly curious interview with BBC Sport, Farke sought to downplay expectations of what Buonanotte might offer Leeds, explaining: “We haven’t signed him to improve our 11 straight away. We signed him to improve the depth in our squad.

“We let Jack Harrison go out on loan and Harry Gray out on loan. We spoke openly with Facundo about it. We want to make sure we hold the pressure high on our other options.

“We just like his potential. I told him ‘I don’t write you off after one poor half’. I was half expecting this.”

The German added: “It’s never easy – we give you the stage, support and arm around the shoulder. We don’t expect you to cut this league into pieces. It is step by step. If it works out – great, if not it’s a loan for both sides, not a big risk.”

Farke was blunter when talking to Graham Smyth, of the Yorkshire Evening Post, telling the reporter that Buonanotte just had to get on with any criticism being made, although he pointed out: “He’s a very self-critical lad, fantastic human being, I also like his character.

“He’s not coming to the training ground down, he’s still there each day with a smile on his face, enjoying his life together with us, with teammates, but still working hard.”

Farke continued: “It’s not easy if you have not played that much and especially when you’re young and you face a bit of criticism.

“You have to win your momentum and form back, step by step. This is what you try, what he’s trying to do at the moment.”

As it turned out, the player only made three sub appearances for Leeds after that FA Cup tie and former Chelsea, Leeds and England full-back Tony Dorigo offered an explanation in an interview with goal.com.

“He had a couple of opportunities, didn’t do very well. Had a cup game away at Birmingham, really struggled and came off. And you’ve got to say that the other players in his position, or in and around him, were playing better. Simple as that.

“I’m sure he’s been working hard on the training ground, but so is everyone else. So, it’s been good in that respect, you’ve got to play really, really well to keep your spot or try and get into the side. Unfortunately, Buonanotte just hasn’t.”

When Sussex World suggested to Fabien Hurzeler that it had been a wasted season for Buonanotte, he was a little more conciliatory.

“I think every experience for players is important, no matter if they play or not,” he said. “Of course, if you give a player a loan, it’s always helpful that they play, but in the end we can’t make the decision.

“Daniel Farke will have a reason why he’s not playing, and then it’s about the player to understand what he needs to improve to get into the team.

“What value he needs to show in every training session, that he is an option for the coach. And I think that’s also a learning process for the player, especially for a young player like Buonanotte.”

Perhaps if his season had turned out differently, Buonanotte could have been part of Argentina’s World Cup squad along with his former under-20 teammate Valentín Barco. Buonanotte already had two full caps: one gained in 2023 when he went on as a sub in a 2-0 win over Indonesia, the other in 2024 in a 3-0 victory over El Salvador.

Hurzeler said: “I know that he has incredible potential and a lot of talent, but that’s not everything in the Premier League. It’s about work ethic, it’s about being hard to yourself, it’s about suffering if you’re not playing, trying to understand and reflect your own behaviour.”

Saying the player needed to learn to take ownership and responsibility for the situation he found himself in, he added: “Hopefully he gets the right conclusion, the right consequences out of it and we’ll get a better player.”

But the wait goes on for Brighton fans to see Buonanotte back in Albion’s colours because at the beginning of August it was announced he was heading off to Spain on yet another season-long loan, this time to newly-promoted La Liga side Elche under Argentinian head coach Martin Anselmi.

*On the move again – Buonanotte has gone on a season-long loan to Spanish side Elche*

*Sliding in for the Albion in pre-season*

Buonanotte, still only 21, was involved in Albion’s pre-season camp in Austria and played as a no.10 as a second half substitute against Strasbourg in Vienna.

He obviously didn’t do enough to convince Hurzeler to keep him within a squad that is also contending with European games this season although when announcing his departure to Spain,

Albion sporting director Mike Cave said: “Facundo is a talented young player who has continued to develop since joining the club.

“This loan gives him the opportunity to play regular football in one of Europe’s top leagues.

“We believe this move will provide an excellent environment for him to gain further experience, and we’ll continue to monitor his progress closely throughout the season.”

Born in Perez, Argentina, two days before Christmas 2004, Buonanotte began his football journey aged just 10 in the youth academy of top Argentine side Rosario Central and he was regarded as one of the most talented graduates from the club since Ángel Di María.

Brighton’s intention to sign him at the age of 17 when the January 2023 transfer window opened was first spoken of in August 2022 and headlines described him as “a wonder kid”.

The club’s technical director at the time, David Weir said: “Facundo is a player we have been aware of for some time, and we have been watching for a while.”

By November that year, he had just completed his first season of top flight football in his home country and Rosario’s boss, the former Man Utd and West Ham striker Carlos Tevez, compared the youngster to Lionel Messi!

“When he brakes and accelerates he reminds me of Messi,” Tevez said after Rosario beat Barracas in August, as reported by Rosario3. “I haven’t seen a boy play like that for a long time.

“Facu has a great mentality, he doesn’t seem to be 17 years old. He is at a very high level, one thinks that he has no ceiling, it is where he wants to go. Today he is physically impeccable.”

Buonanotte played in the Rosario midfield alongside Francis Mac Allister – brother of Alexis.

“I spoke with my brother and he told me that he is an amazing guy and a really good player,” Alexis Mac Allister said. “I am really excited for him. I told him that he is in the right place to keep growing his career.

“I spoke with the Argentina coaching staff when they asked me about him. I said that he’s a very exciting player and once he gets used to the league he will become a top player.”

*The young Argentinian in the thick of the action against Manchester City*

After signing for Brighton for a reported £5.3m fee on a contract to June 2027, Buonanotte didn’t have to wait long for his first taste of first team action.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi sent him on as a substitute for Tariq Lamptey with 15 minutes left of the 4 February home game against AFC Bournemouth. An 88^th-minute goal by Kaoru Mitoma earned Albion all three points.

Handed his first Premier League start three days after Albion lost on penalties to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final, Buonanotte marked it with a goal at the City Ground, Nottingham, but Albion went down 3-1. It was one of seven starts he made, plus seven appearances off the bench as the Seagulls finished in their highest ever spot of sixth.

In a season in which Brighton competed in Europe for the first time, Buonanotte scored five times in 23 starts plus 13 sub appearances. I was at Stamford Bridge on 3 December 2023 when he pulled one back for the Albion just before half time, curling the ball into the bottom left corner of Robert Sanchez’s goal, in a tetchy encounter that saw Conor Gallagher sent off and eight players booked as Chelsea edged it 3-2.

*Facundo for the Albion takes aim at Stamford Bridge…..and his sweet, curling left foot shot beats Robert Sanchez*

In spite of the defeat, De Zerbi spoke warmly of Buonanotte’s performance saying: “He played very well, his best game at Brighton. He is getting better and better.

“I know when a young player plays they can make mistakes and need to improve. If they have a talent, a quality, they become better. Facundo can become an important player for us.”

The following month, after the youngster had scored a stunner in Albion’s 5-2 FA Cup win at Sheffield United, De Zerbi told The Athletic he wanted to see more from him in the no.10 role.

“My demand for Facundo is to shoot and make assists, because his qualities are clear. Facundo is another important young player and he is improving a lot. He’s a smart guy, a good guy. I can’t say anything (bad) about his attitude, behaviour on the pitch.

“He has big qualities. It’s difficult to change country when you are so young, to change the style of football because the Premier League is a different competition to all other leagues.

“But he is improving a lot. He played very well; I think the best game of his time at Brighton.”

Once De Zerbi had parted company with the Albion, although Buonanotte was involved in pre-season fixtures under Fabian Hurzeler, the Argentinian was sent out on a season-long loan to Leicester City.

Hurzeler said: “I hope first of all that he will play [for Leicester]. If you play every game, you will develop. He’s still a player for Brighton so we will watch his development.

“He was very good in training. Very happy with him. For me, it’s always important that players try to develop themselves. That only happens if they play. I hope he will get the minutes at Leicester and come back a stronger, better player.”

Although the Foxes were relegated back to the Championship, Buonanotte scored six goals in 35 matches and caught the eye of various observers. Ex-Arsenal and Leicester striker Alan Smith told Instant Casino: “He’s young and has a lot of improving to do before he’s top class. But to be playing so well for a team like Leicester who are in a different situation to Brighton as he has, he’ll certainly be an exciting talent going forwards, wherever he ends up.

“This loan period at Leicester will be great experience for the young midfielder as he is getting regular game time and really seems to be making a difference there. He’ll likely return to Brighton as an even better player with that experience under his belt.”

One of his problems in trying to nail down a permanent role at Brighton is competition in the positions best suited to him, and Hurzeler seems to have doubts about his application.

According to totalfootballanalysis.com: “He thrives in a free-attacking role that allows him to roam the pitch and exploit spaces. This makes him an exceptional creative playmaker, and his inclination to cut inside also makes him a remarkable roaming playmaker.”

Is his versatility an advantage or disadvantage? totalfootballanalysis.com maintains:

“Buonanotte possesses the ability to adapt effectively within different systems when required,” and it speculates his long-term potential could lie in the role of an advanced playmaker.

“This position typically involves a high volume of passes into the final third and direct creation of chances while in possession.”

The comparison to Messi may well have been a blessing and a curse, although Buonanotte told Sky Sports’ Nick Wright in December 2023: “It had an impact! To be compared to, for me, the best player in the world is something that grabs your attention.

“I was very grateful to Carlos (Tevez). It was amazing to be compared to Leo. But I always say that, in my opinion, there are no players who compare to him. It would be a lack of respect for me to compare myself to him because it’s impossible.

“Leo is the best player in the world, possibly in history, and I’m just starting out. I just want to be Facundo Buonanotte.”

Promotion-winner Alan Curbishley’s rare cross-city switch

ALAN CURBISHLEY, a 1988 promotion winner with third tier Brighton, five years earlier had a watching brief as an unused sub for Aston Villa in a top-flight 0-0 draw with the relegation-bound Seagulls.

That trip to the Goldstone Ground on 26 March 1983 was his first involvement for Villa following a rare transfer between Second City rivals – a £100,000 fee plus makeweight Robert Hopkins taking him from St Andrew’s to Villa Park.

Villa hadn’t signed a player from the Blues since Geoff Vowden’s £12,500 move in March 1971 — and, after Tony Barton’s capture of Curbishley, they didn’t do so again until Spaniard Jota in July 2019.

After four seasons with City, Curbishley joined a Villa side who were the reigning European Cup holders and fourth in the table at the time. While it was a commendable result for bottom-of-the-table Brighton coming on the back of draws against leaders Liverpool (2-2) and third-placed Manchester United (1-1), Jimmy Melia’s side needed wins to have any chance of staying up.

As for Curbishley, he was again an unused sub the following week, away to Ipswich Town, but two days later, against his former club, he finally got a run-out as a 74^th-minute sub for Des Bremner (brother of his future Albion teammate Kevin Bremner). Gary Shaw got the only goal of the game to give Villa the bragging rights.

It wasn’t until 19 April that Curbishley got his first start, slotting into midfield alongside Gordon Cowans and Dennis Mortimer, who scored the only goal of the game as Villa beat West Brom 1-0.

The new man’s debut caught the eye of this newspaper reporter, who wrote: “Curbishley’s quietly produced passes concealed their often considerable effect. Twice late in the match he tackled successfully at vital moments.

“It may well be that Curbishley, late of Birmingham City, is the type of player who makes a bigger mark in a better team for last night he appeared to have more time than ever he did at St Andrew’s.”

His second start saw him face another former club in West Ham and it was an unhappy afternoon because he picked up a booking and Villa lost 2-0.

Curbishley had begun his career with the Hammers and made 85 appearances across the First and Second Divisions before a £275,000 move to Birmingham in 1979.

Although his Villa career was under way, it didn’t pan out in the way he envisaged.

“I had high hopes of success there with them just having won the European Cup,” he told Dave Beckett in an Albion matchday programme article.

“It was soon obvious though that Tony Barton was under pressure from the moment he took over and all the players thought it was just a matter of time before he was sacked.

“He got a raw deal. That season we finished ninth in the league, got to the semis of the League Cup and were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the last minute on the away goals rule.”

Curbishley played the majority of his Villa games under Barton in the 1983-84 season. A creator rather than a scorer, his only goal for the club was scored in a 3-2 defeat at Watford on Boxing Day 1983, a long-range shot that squeezed past Steve Sherwood in the Hornets’ goal.

Come the end of the season, Barton was replaced by Shrewsbury Town boss Graham Turner who proceeded to let go anyone who was a Barton signing.

In Richard Sydenham’s book Ticket To The Moon (deCoubertin Books), which charts Villa’s rise and fall in that period, the journalist discovered Curbishley was given an ex-gratia payment of £30,000 to leave Villa.

After 41 starts plus two as a sub (and nine as an unused sub), Curbishley was sold to Charlton Athletic for £40,000 in December 1984. It was the beginning of a long association with the Addicks punctuated only by his spell at Brighton under Barry Lloyd.

Off the field, Charlton were forced to move from their traditional home at The Valley and play home matches at Selhurst Park, but against that backdrop they managed to win promotion back to the 1^st Division in 1986.

Unfortunately, Curbishley sustained an achilles tendon injury and only played 10 games in the 1986-87 season. “I knew I had an achilles injury but the operation was delayed until a week before the start of the new season and consequently I wasn’t fit again until December,” said Curbishley.

“The manager bought two new midfield players, which I understood, but, when I was fit again, I couldn’t get back into the side.”

After 13 seasons playing in the top two divisions, he left Charlton having scored six times in 63 games and dropped down to the Third to join the Albion for £32,500. He made his debut in a goalless draw at Chesterfield on 22 August 1987 in front of a crowd of just 2,286.

After the departure of Jimmy Case in 1985, the centre of Albion’s midfield had been crying out for someone who could put their foot on the ball and pass it, and Curbishley stepped neatly into that role, scoring six goals – mostly penalties – in 34 appearances as Brighton won promotion.

“Alan was a very level-headed guy, an excellent passer and really disciplined,” Albion boss Barry Lloyd told Spencer Vignes in a matchday programme article.

In total, over three years on the south coast, Curbishley played 127 games (plus five as sub) – making his 400th league appearance during the 1988-89 season – and scored 15 goals.

In 1990, Curbishley began his coaching career, returning to Charlton initially as player-coach under Lennie Lawrence. When Lawrence left in 1991, Charlton made the somewhat unusual decision to appoint joint managers: Curbishley and Steve Gritt (who would later be at the helm when Albion narrowly escaped dropping out of the league).

Curbishley’s first signings for Charlton were former Albion teammates Garry Nelson and Steve Gatting and he later plundered young winger John Robinson from the Seagulls. After four years, Curbishley took sole charge at The Valley and led Charlton to some of the most successful times in their history.

Born in Forest Gate, London on 8 November 1957, within a mile of West Ham station, he was one of five children (elder brother Bill famously promoted and managed The Who and Led Zeppelin and was producer of the films Tommy and Quadrophenia).

Curbishley first played in Brighton at under 11 level, in a Newham Boys side against Brighton Boys at Longhill School, in May 1967. He was later capped for England Boys aged 15 and after joining the Hammers straight from school played for England Youth.

He won nine England Youth caps under Ken Burton, scoring on his debut in a 1-1 draw against Poland in Las Palmas on 21 January 1975 when England went on to win the Atlantic Cup. Among his teammates were future England captain Bryan Robson, Peter Barnes and Keith Bertschin.

He vied for a starting berth with Mark Nightingale (Palace, Bournemouth, Norwich, Peterborough), making six starts and three appearances off the bench. His last appearance was in a 1-0 win over Wales in Cardiff on 11 February 1976, playing alongside Glenn Hoddle and Gary Owen.

Curbishley earned his one and only England Under 21 cap in a 5-0 thrashing of Switzerland at Portman Road when Justin Fashanu was among the scorers. He hoped to go to the 1982 World Cup with England, having broken into the England B squad, but fractured a kneecap sliding into a tackle with Albion’s Brian Horton.

“I missed the rest of the season and the start of the next, and the World Cup squad which I might have broken into otherwise,” he said. “It was the worst disappointment I’ve ever faced.”

They came to Brighton from the land of the midnight sun

ARGUABLY the most successful Norwegian to have played for the Albion was defender Leo Østigård, who represented Norway at the recent World Cup.

As I covered in a recent blog post about him, Østigård was impatient for first team football and moved on without taking that step up with the Seagulls.

Nevertheless, he said: “For a Norwegian player to come over to England and be involved with a Premier League team is really good, and obviously makes me very proud.

“I know that a lot of people from Norway are watching me and keeping track of my progress, so it’s always great to be involved in such a big team – football is massive in this country and it’s fantastic.”

• A left-sided defender who was already an experienced Norwegian international when he joined up with Chris Hughton’s promotion-chasing Championship side in 2017 only got as far as Albion’s subs bench.

Vegard Forren, 29 at the time, was signed in March 2017 as back-up when central defensive cover in that position was limited.

Hughton said: “Vegard is a player the club had been aware of for some time, and with the absence of Shane Duffy and Connor Goldson, we felt it was important to take this opportunity to add to our defensive options.

“Vegard has played the majority of his career for Molde, one of the top clubs in Norway, and has an excellent pedigree having also played in the Champions League, Europa League and 33 times for his country.

“With Shane out for a minimum of six weeks, alongside Lewis Dunk, Uwe Huenemeier and Fikayo Tomori, Vegard gives us another central defensive option for the run-in.”

Earlier in his career, Forren was at Southampton for six months, but he spent ten years with Molde, winning three championships and two domestic cups.

He had turned down a new contract at the club the previous season and left the club when the domestic season ended in November. He had been pre-season training with Norwegian side Rosenborg before joining the Albion.

• Back in the Gus Poyet era, striker Torbjørn (‘Toby’) Agdestein spent three years as an Albion player but his time was spent mainly with the development squad with occasional sub appearances for the first team.

Born in Stord, Norway, on 29 November 1991, Agdestein went through the ranks at Stord Idrettslag where he was spotted by Brighton.

In his early days with the club, he had a short loan spell with Bath City, and 13 goals in 13 appearances for the development squad earned him a new two-year deal in March 2012.

Poyet told the club website: “Toby has understood what we have been trying to teach him from the beginning and under Luke Williams (development squad coach) he has become a better player.

“He can play anywhere in attack and he knows when to pass the ball, when to keep the ball and when to shoot.

“He’s a great prospect for the club and he’s produced it for us when he’s come on in first-team games. I know that I can count on him.”

*Agdestein in action for Albion v Wrexham*

After impressing in Albion’s first two pre-season friendlies in July 2012 Poyet urged him to push for more first team action.

“I’m promising nothing because if I tell you now he is a first team player and next week he doesn’t touch the ball, he doesn’t make any decisions, he doesn’t go past people, he doesn’t score, then he is going to go down (to the development squad),” Poyet cautioned.

“The thing is right now he is with us in the first team squad. The opportunity is there to stay with us. He knows that.”

As it turned out, his contract was terminated by mutual consent with a year left on it and he moved to the north of Scotland to join Inverness Caledonian Thistle, under former England international Terry Butcher.

Butcher told the Daily Record: “He is 6ft 1ins tall and gives us the option of height up front, quite a contrast with wee Billy McKay, our top striker.

“We like the look of Torbjorn, he’s young and strong and willing to learn.

“We’re happy he has agreed to sign until the January window to boost our attacking resources and we can make a decision at that point.”

However, having made only 13 league and cup appearances as a sub, he decided to return to Norway and he played variously for Haugesund, Kristiansund, Odd and Ålesund before returning to his old club, Stord.

• COMBATIVE midfielder Mathias Normann eventually made it to the Premier League with Norwich City having not got beyond Brighton’s under-23 development squad.

Indeed, two of Normann’s 21 (plus three sub appearances) games for the Canaries in 2021-22 were in central midfield in home and away goalless draws with the Seagulls.

When he joined Simon Rusk’s squad from Norwegian second tier side Bodø/Glimt in July 2017, he told the matchday programme: “This is a dream come true for me and it’s very nice for me to be here.

“It’s something that I have always wanted to do since I was a little boy, so this is absolutely fantastic.”

However, within a month, Normann was sent on a season-long loan back to his homeland to play for top tier (Elitserien) Molde under Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

The former Manchester United player and manager said at the time: “He is a quality player, which he particularly demonstrated in the Tippeligaen last year when he showed clear leadership qualities. He complements the other midfielders we have in an excellent way.”

Born in Svolvær on 28 May 1996, Normann began his football career at Svolvær and Lofoten FK before moving to Bodø/Glimt ahead of the 2013 season. He was loaned to Alta for the 2015 season.

On his return to Brighton in the summer of 2018 after the season with Molde, he was sent off (for two yellow cards) on his debut for the under-23s in a 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

Team boss Rusk said: “He is quite combative and I think it was the right decision. Maybe when he is a little more match sharp, with a few more games under his belt, he might not be picking up that second yellow.”

Normann played in the same Albion side as Ben White, Østigård, Aaron Connolly and Viktor Gyökeres that drew 2-2 with Peterborough United and beat MK Dons 3-2 in the Checkatrade Trophy.

He featured 11 times for the under-23s but the following January left on a permanent basis to join Russian club FC Rostov.

Rusk said at the time: “It’s been enjoyable to work with Mathias during his time at the club, but this move makes sense for all parties involved, with it being an excellent move for him.”

It was from Rostov that Norwich signed Normann on loan and City boss Daniel Farke told the club’s official website. “It’s not easy for us to bring a player in who had many clubs interested in him.

“We see lots of potential in Mathias and he’s capable to play in several roles. He’s quite versatile in the midfield positions.

“Quite often, he plays the holding midfield position. But he’s very good with his passing choices and is a good technical player. He’s not the tallest but is still very good in the air and in the duels.”

Ahead of that first game he played against the Albion, The Argus asked the opinion of Connor Southwell, who covers the Canaries for the Eastern Daily Press.

“The biggest compliment I can give to Mathias Normann is that he’s been the best player for Norwich in every game he has played.

“I’ve been sat in the press box at both Everton and Burnley and on both occasions local media for the opposition have praised his efforts,” said Southwell.

“He’s added a real quality into Norwich’s midfield and has rapidly become the first name on the team sheet. He combines tenacity with technical quality with ease.”

Normann made his full Norway debut in 2019 and went on to earn 12 full caps. After his season with Norwich, he returned to Russia to play for Dynamo Moscow, then in 2023 moved to the Middle East where he has since played for Saudi side Al-Raed, Qatari outfit Al-Sailiya and another Qatari side, Al-Gharafa, on loan.

• With the signing of people like Anthony Knockaert, Jiri Skalak and Steve Sidwell plus Liam Ridgewell on loan, Henrik Bjørdal’s arrival at Brighton for a reported £300,000 from Ålesund in January 2016 rather went under the radar.

And that’s pretty much where he stayed because Chris Hughton had plenty more experienced wingers at his disposal with the likes of Knockaert, Solly March and Jamie Murphy.

The player spoke about his prospects in an interview with Andy Naylor for The Argus in January 2017, when he declared: “I didn’t come here to play too much under-23 football. I was hoping I would be close to first team level. I want to play at as high a level as possible, of course.

“I feel like I have made progress, but it’s a promotion team. It’s very difficult to come in, I know that.”

While recognising the difficulty of breaking into the first team picture, Bjørdal told Naylor: “Anthony is a player I like to watch and learn from.

“He’s a skilful player who likes to beat his man. I’m the same type of player and I want to do the same sort of things as him, so of course I want to train with the first team and try to see what he’s doing, to be as good as him.”

He added: “It’s more difficult to play a game when the team is top of the table but I like that challenge. It’s good to be around a team who wins almost every week.”

Born in Ålesund on 4 February 1997, Bjørdal played youth football for IL Valder then progressed through Norwegian top tier side Ålesund’s youth ranks to their first team.

His switch to the Albion found him playing in front of far fewer people than he had been used to; his hometown club often had crowds of 7,000 in a 10,000-capacity stadium.

“It’s a little bit different from playing at Crawley! It’s a bit more silent than I was used to,” he said.

“I played for them in the first team for two seasons, in the top league, playing against good teams. It’s not easy to compare.”

Two months after that interview, he was loaned to Swedish side IFK Göteborg until the end of that season.

When the breakthrough at Brighton didn’t materialise, in June 2018 Bjørdal made a permanent move to Belgian side Zulte Waregem and in an interview with Ålesund’s newspaper, Sunnmørsposten, he said: “The time in England didn’t quite turn out as I imagined.

“When I look back at it, there are periods I’ve been frustrated, but I’ve come out stronger mentally and as a player. It’s been good for me.”

From Belgium, he returned to Norway and since 2020 has played for Oslo-based Vålerenga.

When The Dagger plunged into English football with Brighton

PLAYERS and fans alike couldn’t quite believe it when a Spanish international known as The Dagger made his first and only plunge into English football with second tier Brighton.

Vicente – no need for a surname, although in full it was Vicente Rodríguez Guillén – lit up the Amex with sublime skills and ball control.

Simply a magician with the ball at his feet, Vicente glided past opponents with astonishing ease and literally had supporters on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what he might do next.

“The romantic in me hopes that Vicente, nicknamed El Puñal, the dagger, in Spain, proves to be the sharpest bit of transfer business this season,” Rob Bagchi said of the signing in The Guardian.

So, enough of the nickname, what about the player? Here was someone who had made 340 appearances for Valencia, the majority under Rafa Benitez, and helped them to win two Spanish league titles and the UEFA Cup.

His talent had been rewarded with 38 caps for Spain over four years, including representing his country at the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal (“Spain’s best player of the tournament” according to seasoned watcher Guillem Balague). He’d previously won 44 caps across various younger levels.

Albion manager Gus Poyet, who had played for Real Zaragoza in Spain for seven years, ‘sold’ the club to the gifted left winger and described Vicente’s signing in September 2011 as “a major coup”. It was certainly quite a statement of intent for the club’s first season at the Amex.

The player himself told the matchday programme he’d always wanted to play in England, to sample the football culture, “which is totally different to what we have back home”.

He added: “When I spoke to Gus Poyet about coming to Brighton, it really excited me. I wanted to come to a club that plays good football, exciting and attacking football. I have discovered that since I arrived.”

Born in Benicalap, a working class neighbourhood of Valencia, on 16 July 1981, he played youth football for C. F. Unión Deportiva Benicalap.

His professional football breakthrough came after a successful trial at the city’s then tier two side Levante. He was just 16 when he made his debut for them in 1997 and three years later he joined Valencia.

In a 2016 interview with Brian Owen of The Argus, Vicente spoke of his admiration for Benitez, describing him as a top level coach ahead of his time.

“When he arrived at Valencia and applied his methods, along with his coaching staff who were also top class, the results were incredible,” said Vicente. “He transmitted a winning mentality. He took care of all aspects of the game, the training sessions, the preparation of a footballer. He has an enormous capacity for work.

“And he has had success at Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter, Napoli – there’s a reason for that. As a coach he could always get the best out of you, which is key for a player and for a team.

“He would demand the absolute maximum – but on the other side he was the sort who would help you during troubled times and just get the best he could from you. I like that. Having demands placed upon you is what helps you grow.

“I’ve got the best possible memories of Rafa, no doubt. With Rafa we achieved goals with Valencia which have never been repeated.

“It is very hard to battle for the league with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and we won two titles in three years, we did the double by winning the UEFA Cup. They were the best years in the recent history of Valencia.”

The teammates Vicente joined up with at Brighton could scarcely believe a player of his pedigree had signed.

“His left foot was unbelievable,” Gary Dicker told Andy Naylor, of The Athletic. “He wasn’t that fast but he was so quick with the ball. He could drift past players and, if he got away from you, you weren’t catching him.”

Centre-forward Craig Mackail-Smith added: “His ability and the way the Spanish are brought up, the way they look after the ball and move it, you could just see why Real Madrid wanted to buy him. He had everything; left foot, right foot, acceleration. He was just a fantastic player to have at the club for everyone to learn from.”

In spite of his long list of previous achievements, Vicente explained his decision to move to Brighton in an interview with the matchday programme: “This is not about status or money, this is about enjoying my football again – and I believe I am at the right club to do that.

“The first four or five years at Valencia were the best of my career, where I won titles at home and in Europe, but the last year was hard because I didn’t have a good relationship with the coach (Unai Emery) and didn’t play much football.

“It was sad that things ended that way but I left because I wanted to play more. I am only 30, so have a few good years left in me. I can still improve and I want to help Brighton to the highest level possible.”

*Instant impact on debut against Liverpool*

Vicente made an instant impression on Brighton fans when he replaced Will Buckley on the hour of Albion’s Carling Cup third round match at home to Liverpool.

The Spaniard was felled in the penalty area by a wild Jamie Carragher tackle and Ashley Barnes converted the spot kick, although Liverpool won the tie 2-1 courtesy of goals by Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt.

“If we can get him fit for the pace and craziness of the English game, he will be an unbelievable player for us,” Poyet told the media after the game.

Fitness was an ongoing issue for Vicente throughout his career. It had caused friction during his time at Valencia and it would ultimately lead to a schism with Poyet that curtailed the player’s involvement in Brighton’s colours too.

Within weeks of him scoring his first Albion goal on his first start, in a 3-1 defeat at Ipswich Town, he was unavailable for nine matches due to a thigh problem.

By December 2011, perhaps showing the first signs of frustration, Poyet told The Argus: “He’s fit. For whatever reasons, he’s just had every day a little bit of pain and aches. He couldn’t really be pain free, so he didn’t train with us more than once or twice last week.

“If everything went all right over the weekend then he should be training with us today but I don’t think he is ready to play 90 minutes.”

The Uruguayan added: “We were convinced he would take us to another level but we have lost him for many, many games so far. We need to make sure he recovers. I am still confident that he will bring a lot.”

Alas, Vicente continued to be absent for several more weeks suffering from adductor, hamstring and groin problems. Even after he’d made a goalscoring return in March, he admitted: “I’m not 100 per cent yet, but I’m almost there. I’m feeling better and I hope I’ll be at 100 per cent very soon. With luck the injury problems are behind me and I can keep the shirt.”

He was speaking after scoring twice having gone on for Craig Noone in the 57^th minute of Albion’s 10 March home game against Portsmouth. He whipped off his shirt and earned a booking from Mike Dean after scoring direct from a free kick in the 75^th minute and then, in injury time, he buried a cross from Kazenga LuaLua to clinch a win.

“The emotion that came out after the free-kick was simply because I hadn’t played for so long and the celebration showed how happy I was to have helped the team,” he said. “It’s been hard for me but that’s football and I’ve just had to keep working.

“It has been frustrating to have so many injuries, missing so much of the season and not being able to be in the team or play in recent games, but to come on and do well made me very happy.”

Captain Gordon Greer said: “The things he did against Portsmouth he does all the time in training and it’s just a shame we haven’t seen more of him this season. He’s the player who can change a game for us.”

Vicente had a one-year contract with the Seagulls but the club had an option to keep him another year, which they exercised. However, the player didn’t show for pre-season training ahead of the new season, apparently unhappy at the option being activated.

With his partner having recently given birth to their second child, and settled at home in Valencia, Vicente was keen to stay in Spain and join Elche, a side where his former Valencia coach Fran Escriba had taken over.

But Poyet was insistent Vicente should honour his contract and told Owen, of The Argus: “When a player is under contract you expect him to be here. Then there can be unhappiness, there can be decisions, there can be negotiations, there can be problems, there can be discussions, there can be 100 things between a player and a club.

“That’s normal because not everything is always perfect. But we will deal with it internally.”

By the first week of July, a delighted Poyet announced on the club website: “Vicente will be with us next season and to know he will be part of the squad is fantastic news for the club and our supporters.

“Too much has been made of the situation but Vicente’s had some personal issues to resolve before being able to return to England; nothing to do with football or financial issues.

“These issues have been resolved now and everyone is happy.”

*Vicente takes control against Chelsea in a pre-season friendly*

He played and scored in the curtain-raiser 3-1 friendly win over Chelsea at the Amex, appeared in the first competitive game of the season, a 3-0 reverse against Swindon Town in the league cup, and went on as a sub in a 0-0 draw at Cardiff, but he was then missing from the squad for four months.

When veteran Albion reporter Naylor took a look back at Vicente’s Brighton spell in a March 2021 article for The Athletic, Greer, the skipper at the time, told him: “Vicente was struggling with his fitness. Gus wanted him to play but Vicente didn’t feel he was ready to play or, for whatever reason, couldn’t play.

“I think Vicente felt the way Gus spoke to people at times wasn’t to his liking. I know he wasn’t happy some of the time and not feeling confident about his body.”

Greer added: “We could only imagine how good he would have been if he’d stayed fit, or how good he was when he was slightly younger and playing all the time.”

The best Albion fans saw of him in the 2012-13 season came in back-to-back home games in February 2013 when he scored in a 1-0 win against Hull City and a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers three days later.

He made only seven starts plus six appearances off the bench across the whole 2012-13 season and his last involvement was in the final game of the normal season, a 2-0 win over Wolves. Poyet didn’t pick him for either leg of the play-off semi-final loss to Crystal Palace.

After his release from the club at the end of the season, Vicente vented his feelings about Poyet via The Argus declaring him “the worst person I’ve come across in football” and describing him as “selfish” and “egocentric”.

Eight years later, Vicente told The Athletic’s Naylor how his relationship with Poyet was good at the beginning “but there were decisions I did not understand. Training sessions were fun but always the same”.

He went on: “I don’t hold a grudge against him. I suppose he was trying to get the most out of the team at the end of the second season and the relationship did not go well then.

“There were details that, as a professional, I did not like. I have not spoken with him again. I think he could have been clearer in some situations.”

Vicente retired a year after leaving Brighton and for a while was part of the technical team at Valencia. He then became a partner in a player agency.

Reflecting on his time with the Seagulls, Vicente told Naylor: “I was very comfortable in the city and with my team-mates. The fans always treated me very well and I enjoyed playing every game at the Amex. I feel very proud to have been part of the club. I will always carry them in my heart.”

The player also told Owen of The Argus: “It’s a source of pride that the Brighton fanbase hold me in such high regard.

“I’d have loved to have played more for them because I knew the fans liked me. The connection with them was excellent.”

In parallel lines

Nick Turrell's Brighton & Hove Albion blog