Newcastle are the richest club in the world – yet they want to be Brighton

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Brighton & Hove Albion should therefore be very flattered that the richest football club in the world Newcastle United have seemingly decided that it is the Albion they want to become.

If the January rumour mill is to be believed, then Saudi Arabia have used their petrodollars to bid for Yves Bissouma, Adam Webster and Dan Burn. Three Albion players and a potential spending spree of approximately £110 million.

With a few days still to go in the transfer window, it will be fascinating to see if Newcastle can push any of those deals over the line.

Bissouma is of course out-of-contract in 18 months time. If somebody is willing to fork out £50 million for him, then it may be in Tony Bloom’s best interests to sell now as the Albion are not going to attract that sort of fee again unless the midfielder signs a new deal.

Burn would surely be temped by a move to St James’ too. He is a boyhood Newcastle fan and the Toon could offer him a wage vastly above what he is on at Brighton.

The Albion for their part would probably be interested in a sale – if the price was right. A healthy profit could be turned on the £3.5 million paid to Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2018 for Burn’s services.

If Newcastle want to pay £15 million or more for a player who – despite his superb recent form – is arguably Brighton’s fifth choice centre back when Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy, Adam Webster and Joel Veltman are all available, then the Albion would be mad not to at least consider selling.

It is not just Brighton players who Newcastle want to sign, either. They were linked with a move for Graham Potter before Eddie Howe was appointed as the successor to Steve Bruce.

And before Christmas, the Toon approached Brighton about taking technical director Dan Ashworth to St James’ Park.

Ashworth held talks with the Newcastle hierarchy but things have not progressed beyond that, suggesting that he has turned down the opportunity despite the limitless cash available to transform the Toon Army’s fortunes.

When will the enquiries from Newcastle end? Will they try and buy the Heineken Lounge and install it at St James’? How about signing Sammy Seagull as a new mascot?

Maybe Richard Reynolds will secure a dream move to Newcastle as stadium announcer? The woman who works on reception at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre does a cracking job.

If Mohammed Bin Salman likes snacking on sweets in-between ordering the assassination of dissident journalists after luring them to the Saudi consulate, Newcastle might decide to bid for the East Lower’s pick n mix stand. He would probably draw the line at a £3.20 bag of Starburst though, despite his wealth.

Some Newcastle fans have taken great offence to the idea that their club wants to copy Little Old Brighton. Albion fans too have reacted with anger that the richest club in the world are trying to emulate what Bloom, Ashworth, Potter and Paul Barber have put in place at the Amex.

Both of these responses are bizarre. In many ways, Brighton are the perfect model for Newcastle to copy. A quick glance at the respective club’s fortunes this season indicates that any Toon Army offence is misplaced.

Brighton are punching above their weight in the Premier League. They are a smaller club with a bottom eight budget who have established themselves in the top flight and are currently in the race for a European spot.

The reason that Brighton fans are dreaming of Thursday nights in Kazakhstan in 2022-23 is because of the way the club is run. It makes the most of its resources.

Imagine then if you took the set up and structure at the Albion – from the academy pathway that produced Ben White and Robert Sanchez to the scouting which found Yves Bissouma and Jakub Moder – and gave it unlimited amounts of cash?

After watching Brighton this season, a number of pundits have said that if the Albion had a clinical centre forward then they could be challenging for a Champions League spot.

Brighton do not have that striker because they cannot afford to blow £40 million or more on a single player. Newcastle could.

Copy what Brighton have done to become of the Premier League’s biggest success stories at the same time as spending billions and the sky could be the limit for the Toon.

Albion fans themselves are misguided to be angry that Newcastle want to sign Brighton players, managers, technical directors and everything else. Instead, it is proof that we support one of the best run clubs in the top flight.

We should be proud that of all the potential approaches Saudi Arabia could have gone for with their billions and billions in the bank, it is a #TeamLikeBrighton who they want to copy.

And the beauty of the Brighton’s holistic approach – currently the envy of the rest of the Premier League – is that if Newcastle do make offers the Albion and the individuals involved cannot afford to turn down, then the club is now structured to cope with any departures.

If Webster or Burn are sold to the Toon, then the queue of players who can fill the Albion’s centre back berths includes the aforementioned Dunk, Duffy and Veltman, plus the likes of Haydon Roberts, Leo Ostigard, Matt Clarke and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Unless he signs a new contract, Bissouma is going to be gone within 18 months. Replacing someone that good is never easy. Brighton though have coped without him at various stages of this season for different reasons.

Adam Lallana, Jakub Moder, Alexis Mac Allister and Steve Alzate have all filled Bissouma’s holding role successfully. Brighton’s options in midfield also include Moises Caicedo and Teddy Jenks whilst Taylor Richards and Kacper Kozlowski await opportunities in more advanced roles.

David Weir was recently promoted from his position as loan manager to assistant technical director as the club sought to put in place a succession plan in the event of Ashworth’s departure.

Potter’s replacement will have already been identified. We know that Brighton always know who they want to be their next manager in advance of the current one leaving the club, hence the laser focus on bringing in Potter even before Chris Hughton had been given his P45.

The more successful Brighton become, the more we will have to get used to richer clubs aping the Albion’s model, wanting to sign Seagulls players and trying to lure away the management team.

Brighton are now considered a leading light for how to run a Premier League outfit. Even the richest club in the world want to copy a team who 11 years ago rented a 9,000 capacity athletics stadium with no roof where the directors’ lounge doubled up as a creche.

How is that for progress?