Brighton have received more in transfer fees for Ben White and Marc Cucurella than what they paid for their Amex Stadium
LOSING your best player might not be a source of celebration – but for Brighton it’s a cause of pride and progress.
Marc Cucurella’s £62million fee, added to last summer’s £50m for Ben White, eclipse the £93m paid for their Amex Stadium.
How many clubs can boast such a one-for-the-price-of-two achievement?
The Seagulls‘ eagerly-awaited switch to the Amex in 2011 inspired their rise up the leagues.
Now they go to Manchester United for their season-opener on Sunday as an established Premier League club, having finished ninth under Graham Potter last season.
Chelsea beat off Manchester City to recruit Spanish left-back Cucurella, 24, with a six-year contract on Friday.
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But Potter insists he was under no financial pressure to sell.
Brighton have raked in £150m from four major transfers in the past year.
England ace White joined Arsenal, Newcastle paid £13m for fellow centre-back Dan Burn and midfielder Yves Bissouma cost Tottenham £25m.
Cucurella’s exit, though, is perhaps the most spectacular bit of business as Brighton only bought him from Getafe last summer for £17m.
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Potter said: “It’s part of our strategy, to allow us to continue to develop.
“Buying players is the easy part; selling players at the right time for the right price is the difficult bit.
“Our job now is to try to improve, to try to go forward and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Potter stressed: “We didn’t want to sell him and we didn’t need to sell him.
“But you understand that if a Champions League club comes with Champions League resources and finance and the player indicates there’s a desire to do it then it’s very difficult for us.
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“It’s another situation where everybody’s won in terms of the player’s got a great opportunity, the selling club have got a good fee and the buying club have got a good player, so win, win, win all around.
“Marc was a fantastic player for us, great guy, I like him a lot so I wish him well and we move forward as a group.”