The astonishing value of Brighton & Hove Albion’s defenders

Not sure whether you have noticed, but Brighton & Hove Albion have some seriously talented defenders on their books.

Graham Potter’s first choice back four – or three depending on where the mood takes him – is as good as anything outside of the top six. Below those starters, the Albion have depth and quality which is probably better than anyone else in the Premier League.

If Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea or Manchester United’s were without two of their first choice defenders, it would be hailed as a crisis.

Brighton in contrast could have Tariq Lamptey, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Dan Burn all out injured and replace them with Martin Montoya, Ben White, Joel Veltman and Bernardo – with Shane Duffy, Matt Clarke and Leo Ostigard sitting on the bench.

The Albion have more defenders than they know what to do with. And while Potter might enjoy the luxury, it isn’t something that Brighton – or to be specific, Tony Bloom – can afford for much longer.

Bloom recently mentioned in an interview with The Athletic about the impact that not selling players has on the balance sheet. While the Albion have forked out an average of £60 million in each of the past three Premier League seasons, their only significant incoming fee has been the £15 million that Fulham paid to loan and then buy Anthony Knockaert.

Despite being in the mega-rich world of the Premier League, Brighton made losses of £21.2 million in the 2018-19 season. As alarming a figure that may be, if the Albion flogged one player for £30 million, they are suddenly making a £9.8 million profit.

Interestingly, Bloom also mentions the plethora of defenders to The Athletic, describing the squad as having “an abundance of centre backs”. Read between the lines and that sounds like a couple of Brighton defenders could be heading out the door to fund arrivals in positions which need strengthening.

Which got us thinking – how much are the Albion’s defensive options worth? We have come up with an estimated value for the defensive talents Brighton currently have on their books and the total should make Bloom smile.

Lewis Dunk
Two very different values could be attached to Lewis Dunk. There is what he is worth to Brighton and what he would be worth to another club.

To the Albion, Dunk is priceless. A homegrown talisman who has gone from League One at Withdean to captaining Brighton in the Premier League to playing for England. He is the Seagull’s reigning Player of the Year and should not be going anywhere for less than £60 million.

Take off the blue and white spectacles though and Dunk’s value drops. The £42 million that Manchester City paid for Nathan Ake provides a decent comparison.

Ake is a regular international with the Netherlands and four years younger than Dunk, giving him potential to improve and possible resale value.

Dunk might be the better defender, but those factors probably mean that a top six club would value the Albion skipper at around the same sort of level as Ake.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £40 million

Adam Webster
Webster cost the Albion £18 million from Bristol City last summer. He struggled at times in the 2019-20 season with his defending often coming in for criticism; especially after the 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield United in December when he looked like a dog chasing a balloon by misjudging practically every header he went up for.

The important thing to remember with Webster is that he is 25-years-old. Think back to the red cards, own goals and general mistakes that Dunk used to make at that age circa 2014-2016 and compare that to the player he is now. Cocking things up is all part and parcel of defenders learning the game, especially if you play for Brighton.

With a season of Premier League experience under his belt, Webster is only going to get better. He was much improved after lockdown and we should be expecting big things of him in 2020-21.

He comes with the English player premium, is one of the best ball-playing centre backs in the lower reaches of the Premier League and has his best years ahead of him.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £25 million

Dan Burn
Trying to come up with a figure for Burn is an intriguing task. On the one hand, he was a regular in a side that finished 15th in the Premier League and brings versatility by being comfortable in both left and central defensive positions.

On the other hand though, could you imagine any Premier League manager other than Potter playing a 6’7 left back? And even Potter seems to realise that a Burn upgrade is needed if Brighton are to move into the top 10 with a new left back said to be high on his summer shopping list.

Brighton picked him up for £3.5 million from Wigan Athletic and he is probably worth double that now.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £8 million

Tariq Lamptey
Based on what we have seen so far, Lamptey has the potential to outstrip any of the Brighton defenders who we are valuing here. At 19, he has plenty of scope to improve and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he made a charge next season for inclusion in England’s squad for Euro 2021. He’s that good.

The crucial word when valuing Lamptey though is potential. While Brighton fans may love getting carried away about their young right back, he has only played nine games of Premier League football in his life.

As unlikely as it seems, he could yet turn out to be a flash in the pan. We have seen it many times with young players like Rohan Ince, Jake Forster-Caskey and Jake Robinson who seem destined for greatness in their first half-season, only to find themselves turning out for Cheltenham Town a few years later.

Right now, Lamptey is a £20 million player. Give it a year though and he might be worth three times that (although he might also be worth less). If Aaron Wan-Bissaka can move to Manchester United for £45 million after one season at Crystal Palace, the amount that Brighton might rake in for Lamptey next summer could be scary.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £20 million

Shane Duffy
Duffy seems the most likely of Brighton & Hove Albion’s defenders to be sold this summer. He is at an age where he needs first team football, especially if he wants to remain an automatic choice for the Republic of Ireland going into Euro 2021.

Any club in the bottom half of the Premier League could do a lot worse than sign Molly Malone’s favourite customer. Duffy was every bit as good as Dunk in Brighton’s first two top flight seasons, even pipping Dunk to our WeAreBrighton.com 2018-19 Player of the Year Award.

As a proven performer and a homegrown player, the Albion should expect a decent fee for his services. The fact that potential suitors know he wants out and Brighton are open to a sale reduces his value a little, but even so a significant profit should be made on the £4 million paid to Blackburn Rovers in 2016.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £12 million

Bernardo
The Brazilian left back was one of the Albion’s better players in 2018-19. For one reason or another, it hasn’t really worked out for him though since Potter took over last summer and he subsequently made just 16 appearances last season in an injury-hit campaign.

As already noted, Potter is said to be keen on strengthening his options at left back which could pave the way for Bernardo’s departure. Transfermarkt value Bernardo at £4.3 million and there are clubs on the continent who would probably pay more than that, especially as he is still relatively young at 25.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £8 million

Martin Montoya
Montoya was one of the first names on Potter’s team sheet in the first half of last season. Post-Christmas and he found himself doing battle with Ezequiel Schelotto for the right back shirt before Lamptey usurped them both.

The Spaniard has come in for his fair share of criticism, which we never really understood as he was a solid-if-unspectacular performer. If Brighton did want to sell, then Montoya having words like ‘Barcelona’ and ‘Champions League winner’ on his CV should boost his transfer value.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £6 million

Joel Veltman
The latest addition to Brighton & Hove Albion’s roster of defenders is Joel Veltman, signed from Ajax for £900,000.

Veltman is a Dutch international who won three Eredivisie titles during eight years at the Amsterdam Arena as well as helping Ajax reach the Champions League semi finals in 2019.

Brighton picked Veltman up on the cheap by activating the €1 million release clause in his Ajax contract. We know that he is worth at least 10 times that given that he has been linked with £10 million moves to Roma and AC Milan in the past year.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £10 million

Ben White
Unless you have been living on one of the moons of Saturn for the past year, then you will have heard of White. He spent the 2019-20 season on loan at The Leeds United, winning the Champions of Europe’s Player of the Year award as they lifted the Championship title.

As a result, White has been linked with moves to Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea this summer. Leeds fans seem to think that they are in the running too, but it would take an astronomical bid from Marcelo Bielsa for Bloom to even consider selling to a relegation rival.

Most of the reports surrounding White’s transfer quote a fee of £35 million which would be an incredible amount for a defender who has never kicked a ball above the second tier before.

For some context, Webster was one of the best defenders in the Championship in 2018-19 and Brighton picked him up for £18 million. Is White really worth double that – especially as he may endure the same teething troubles adapting to Premier League football as Webster?

Frankly, we don’t care. White’s value might seem ridiculous given his current CV, but if somebody wants to offer it than that is their business.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £35 million

Matt Clarke
Brighton defenders have had a pretty enjoyable time of it in the Championship. Head south from Elland Road to Pride Park and you will find former-Portsmouth centre back Clarke winning Derby County’s Player of the Season Award.

Again, the obvious comparison for Clarke is with Webster. Based on the fact that both were young English defenders winning individual accolades in sides who finished just short of the Championship play offs, you can justify Clarke’s value being very similar to what Brighton paid for Webster a year ago.

Signing Clarke from Fratton Park for just £3.5 million looks like an extraordinary piece of business and one which Brighton can expect to make a significant profit on, even if he never plays a competitive game in blue and white.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £15 million

Leo Ostigard
Young Norwegian defender Ostigard has spent this season at Bundesliga 2 side St Pauli, where he made 28 appearances. Given that Ostigard is essentially eighth choice of Brighton & Hove Albion’s central defenders, it seems unlikely that we will ever seen him run out at the Amex in the Premier League.

Not that Bloom will care. Brighton signed Ostigard for a fee in the region of £100,000 from Molde in the summer of 2018. Transfermarkt now value him at £2.5 million.

Just like Ales Mateju and Mathias Normann, he will probably turn out to be a young player bought cheap and sold at a profit who never gets a chance with the Albion.

WeAreBrighton.com estimated value: £2.5 million

The total value of Brighton & Hove Albion’s defenders: £181.5 million
Add the value of all 11 players together and you get a total of £181.5 million. Yes, Brighton & Hove Albion have managed to stockpile one hundred and eighty one point five million pounds worth of defenders.

Even more impressive than that figure is that those same players cost just £49 million to bring to the Amex in the first place. We have been highly critical of the Albion’s recruitment team in the past, but those are some serious impressive numbers.

The defenders don’t stop there either. Brighton have further defensive talents in their Under 23s and Under 18s squad just waiting to break through.

Left back Alex Cochrane was on the bench for the Albion’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle United in the penultimate game of the season whilst Haydon Roberts is an England Under 18 international who scored on his senior debut for the Albion in the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa back in September.

Should those two live up to expectations, then there could yet be many more millions to add to the value of Brighton’s defenders. Astonishing.