After only narrowly missing out on European qualification last season, Brighton & Hove Albion will be hoping for even better this time round, so can they upset the established elite?
What are Brighton's confirmed transfers?
Brighton's arrivals
- Charalampos Kostoulas: Olympiacos - £29.78 million.
- Maxim De Cuyper: Club Brugge - £17.5 million.
- Olivier Boscagli: PSV Eindhoven - free transfer.
- Tommy Watson: Sunderland - £10 million.
- Diego Coppola: Hellas Verona - £9.5 million.
- Yoon Do-young: Daejeon Hana Citizen - £2 million.
Brighton's departures
- João Pedro: Chelsea - £55 million.
- Pervis Estupiñán: AC Milan - £17 million.
- Simon Adingra: Sunderland - £21 million.
- Evan Ferguson: Roma - loan + £32 million option to buy.
- Valentín Barco: Strasbourg - £8.5 million.
- Kjell Scherpen: Royale Union Saint-Gilloise - £5.5 million.
- Ibrahim Osman: Auxerre - loan.
- Yoon Do-young: Excelsior - loan.
Pleased note: all information is correct as of the date of publication.
What happened at Brighton last season?
Brighton & Hove Albion impressively finished eighth last season, making it the second-best campaign in their entire top division history, only betted by the 2022/23 season when they ended up sixth.
This would've been enough to see Fabian Hürzeler's team get into Europe but, agonisingly, they were denied this as a result of fierce rivals Crystal Palace's FA Cup triumph, adding insult to injury. The Seagulls did though collect 13 points from their final five Premier League fixtures, concluding the campaign by beating both Liverpool and then Tottenham, so will be hoping that form continues into this season, with Europe very much the target again.
How will Brighton do this season?
As we've come to expect from Brighton, they've brought in players from far and wide, the vast majority of whom we know little about, but expect they'll all be excellent. Centre-back Diego Coppola is one of the most highly-rated young players in Italy, while left-back Maxim De Cuyper and new striker Charalampos Kostoulas are likely to be starters too, having joined for big money.
Of course, given that this is Brighton, there have been sales, with Pervis Estupiñán sold to AC Milan, while João Pedro has joined Chelsea for £55 million. Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons for Fabian Hürzeler and supporters to be optimistic, and we're forecasting an excellent season.
With a whopping nine Premier League clubs in European competition, we think Brighton can take advantage of that and have a very good campaign, backing the Seagulls to not only secure a European spot, while possibly even knock on the door of the Champions League places.
- Our predicted finish for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League this season: 6th.
What are Brighton's first 6 Premier League fixtures?
- Fulham (H). Saturday 16 August. Kick off 15:00 (BST).
- Everton (A). Sunday 24 August. Kick off 14:00 (BST).
- Manchester City (H). Sunday 31 August. Kick off 14:00 (BST).
- Bournemouth (A). Saturday 13 September. Kick off 15:00 (BST).
- Tottenham Hotspur (H). Saturday 20 September. Kick off 15:00 (BST).
- Chelsea (A). Saturday 27 September. Kick off 15:00 (BST).
What are some other key dates for Brighton supporters?
- 13 August: Carabao Cup second round draw - taking place around 22:30 (BST).
- 1 September: The transfer window closes at 19:00 (BST).