Do Brighton need to spend money to replace Ben White?
With Ben White due back from holiday and ready to complete the medical which will rubber stamp his £50 million transfer to Arsenal, attention will now turn to how Brighton replace their England international defender.
Or to be more precise, should they spend any money to do so? Most people assumed that with enough centre backs on the books to fill a cruise liner, the Albion would turn to an internal solution rather than entering the market for somebody to fill White’s boots.
The rumour mill though has been linking Brighton with a £15 million move for Liverpool defender Nat Phillips, even before White to Arsenal was all but confirmed at the weekend. Andy Naylor has said that he believes the Albion are interested in the 24-year-old. Which begs the question why?
Currently, Brighton will go into the 2021-22 campaign with a presumed starting back three of Adam Webster, Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman, freed of his wing back responsibilities by the return of Tariq Lamptey.
Solly March is also back from injury to retake a spot on the left. A combination of Dan Burn and Jakub Moder filled in for March after he picked up his season ending knee problem in the 1-0 win at Liverpool at the beginning of February.
Brighton could yet be further strengthened in those wide areas. Getafe left wing back Marc Cucurella and Chelsea right wing back Valentino Livramento are apparently both on the Albion’s radar.
Michal Karbownik will also surely get more of an opportunity in 2021-22 after making one solitary FA Cup appearance following his January arrival from Legia Warsaw.
If Brighton pull off even one of those deals for a new wing back, then neither Veltman nor Burn would be required to play there this season, barring some pretty horrendous luck with injuries or suspensions.
Burn then becomes back up to the first choice three central defenders. That is a pretty strong roster even before you get to thinking about Leo Ostigard, fresh from an impressive campaign out on loan with Coventry City in the Championship.
Ostigard is a very ambitious young man. He has already said publicly that if Brighton do not see him as being a part of their first team plans in the coming season, then he will seek a permanent move for the sake of his career.
Should Ostigard be in Potter’s thinking, that extends the Albion’s options to five centre backs for three starting berths. This should be enough; in the unlikely event that three are ruled out at any one time, then Potter and this Brighton squad are flexible enough tactically to switch to a back four if dwindling numbers made it necessary.
Ostigard’s departure would reduce those numbers, but even then Brighton might not need another body with further options waiting in the wings.
Highly rated 19-year-old Haydon Roberts spent last year with Rochdale in League One. Potter has shown he has no qualms in putting a player into the Premier League straight from a temporary stay at Spotland, as a certain Robert Sanchez can attest to.
There is also Jan Paul van Hecke, a £1.8 million signing from NAC Breda last summer who remained in the Netherlands on loan at Heerenveen.
He had a solid season in the Eredivisie by all accounts, although as we know all too well looking good in the Dutch league is no guarantee of being up to Premier League standards.
Matt Clarke is no longer an option having headed to West Brom for a season long loan and it would take a comeback of Lazarus style proportions for Shane Duffy to suddenly start featuring.
Molly Malone’s and the Grosvenor Casino will of course have their fingers crossed, particularly after having their doors shut and zero income for so much of the past 18 months or so.
At this moment in time though, Dunk, Webster, Veltman, Burn, Ostigard and potentially Roberts and van Hecke give Brighton boss Potter plenty of options and enough cover to replace Ben White.
To go and spend £15 million on Phillips at a time when everyone knows what the Albion need is a clinical centre forward would be bizarre to the say the least.
Time to bust out those God-forsaken expected goals stats again. If Brighton took their chances in the 2020-21 season and performed to their xG, they could have finished as high as fifth in the Premier League.
Brighton should be moving hell and high water to adjust that striker issue, rather than looking at the other end of the pitch where they already possess an extremely capable batch of defenders who can replace Ben White.
There is a whole other debate to be had about whether Phillips is the right player. Seemingly, he is more of a Duffy head-and-block man, rather than a ball playing centre back like Dunk or someone like Webster who is comfortable stepping into midfield with the ball at their feet.
Seeing as White can do both of those things with ease, Phillips looks to be about as far removed from a direct replacement for the Albion’s Emirates-bound Player of the Season as there is.
Presuming there are no departures from the defensive ranks, then one new wing back and that desperately needed striker between now and the slamming shut of the transfer window would represent a decent summer for the Albion.
If we instead end up signing only defenders between now and September, then it could be a fifth season spent looking over our shoulders. And nobody wants that again, do they?
