Swans loan next step towards Brighton number one for Rushworth

Carl Rushworth has had a busy couple of days. Rushworth has agreed a new contract keeping him at Brighton until the summer of 2027 and joined Swansea City for a season long loan in the Championship.

The highly rated 22-year-old is following the tried and test Albion development pathway of working his way up the football pyramid through a succession of temporary switches.

Every move is designed to give Rushworth more experience and help him improve, with the ultimate destination being the Brighton number one shirt within the next couple of seasons.

Rushworth has been viewed as a future Premier League goalkeeper almost from the moment he signed from Halifax Town in 2019.

His first temporary switch from Brighton took him to Worthing for the 2019-20 season. So good was Rushworth during his time at Woodside Road before Covid-19 curtailed the campaign that scouts from Barcelona flew to Sussex to watch him play.

Not many teenagers turning out in the Isthmian League Premier Division at the seventh tier of English football are watched by Barca.

It begged the age-old question… could Lionel Messi do it on a cold Tuesday night away at Margate? Because Rushworth had shown he could.

Rushworth spent 2020-21 back with Brighton as the Under 23s number one, playing 18 times in Premier League 2 alongside three appearances in the Paint Pot.

2021-22 brought his first Football League experience via a season at League Two Walsall. Rushworth was an ever-present between the posts for the Saddlers, broke into the England Under 21 squad and ended the campaign being voted Walsall Players’ Player and Supporters’ Young Player of the Season.

Having proven himself the best goalkeeper in the fourth tier, Rushworth stepped up to League One last season with Lincoln City.

Again, he played all 46 league games keeping 20 clean sheets along the way. That was three less than former Brighton goalkeeper Christian Walton recorded for Ipswich Town on his way to winning the League One Golden Glove award.

Imps manager Mark Kennedy lavished praise on Rushworth towards the end of the campaign: “He’s phenomenal. I’m a big fan of James Trafford and I think those two are arguably the two best keepers in League One.”

Trafford was on loan at Bolton Wanderers from Manchester City last season and started as number one for England Under 21s ahead of Rushworth at this summer’s European Championships.

He famously saved a last minute penalty in the final win over Spain and has since completed a £15 million permanent move to Burnley from the Citizens. Not bad company for Rushworth to be lauded alongside.

“Carl has had an outstanding season,” Kennedy continued. “I think he’s a grade A player and I can’t compliment him enough.”

“We’re really lucky to have Carl, and Brighton have a real talent on their hands. I think goalkeeping is a very unique position, but I think he’s got everything, he’s top class.”

“His temperament, his agility, he’s so quick, lightening quick. One thing he’s done brilliantly this year is that he comes and catches crosses for fun.”

“Short game, he’s really good over short distances. I think he’s got to get better over long distances, but you don’t have to worry about that in the Premier League.”

Statistics gathered by Peter Finn from the 2022-23 season when he analysed the Albion’s goalkeeping options back up Kennedy’s assertion of Rushworth’s quality.

Rushworth’s save percentage of 77.6 percent was higher than fellow Brighton goalkeepers Jason Steele, Robert Sanchez and Kjell Scherpen.

Football stats website FBref.com produce a goals prevented measurement which is essentially xG for goalkeepers.

It compares goals conceded to opposition chances to calculate whether a goalkeeper saved more or less shots than they were expected to. This then becomes their goals prevented number.

The higher the number, the better the goalkeeper’s performance. Rushworth in 2022-23 prevented 2.7 more goals than he should have. Steele posted a figure of -1.3, Sanchez -2.8 and Scherpen -4.0.

Peter also compared Rushworth in League One with Sanchez during his 2019-20 loan spell in the same division with Rochdale. Rushworth beats Sanchez in save percentage (77.6 compared to 68.2) and clean sheet percentage (40.5 against 23.1).

Sanchez went from his spell at Spotland to Brighton number one without any time on loan in the Championship. Based on that, Rushworth would appear more ready for Premier League football now than Sanchez was when he usurped Maty Ryan in December 2020.

For the time being at least, Rushworth is not going to overtake Steele or new £17 million signing from Anderlecht Bart Verbruggen. Swansea are the chief beneficiaries, landing themselves one of the best young goalkeepers in England for a year.

Not only is Rushworth capable of producing outrageous saves and dominating his box, but he is excellent with the ball at his feet.

Sanchez found out the hard way just how much Roberto De Zerbi values that trait in his goalkeepers when being replaced by Steele.

It makes Rushworth seem an even more obvious future Brighton number than he looked when Graham Potter was in charge.

A big season conquering the Championship at Swansea to go with his successes through the Isthmian Premier, League Two and League One and it will not be long until Rushworth fulfils that destiny.