Brighton sell four, Chelsea fall into golden trap

Chelsea regularly look to buy Brighton players.

In just three years, the West London club has transferred nearly 330 million euros to Brighton's account, in return for four players, a coach and a transfer director. From the market's perspective, it was a series of smart transactions by Brighton. For Chelsea - it's a different story: between efforts to rebuild and unsolved problems.

Since the Marc Cucurella deal in the summer of 2022, Chelsea has officially "opened the line" with Brighton. They spent 65.3 million euros on the Spanish defender - who Brighton only spent 18 million euros to recruit a season earlier. A profit of nearly 50 million euros in less than a year.

But not stopping on the pitch, the Stamford Bridge team also "hooked" coach Graham Potter just a few months later, with a 24 million euro contract termination fee. Result: Potter was fired after 31 matches. An expensive failure.

But the biggest blockbuster deal was Moises Caicedo. Bought by Brighton for just 7.3 million euros, the Ecuadorian midfielder was sold after two seasons for a record 133 million euros.

Until Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool, this was still the most expensive contract in Premier League history. In addition, Chelsea also brought in Robert Sanchez for 23 million euros plus 6 million in variable fees - a goalkeeper who has not really convinced but is still the number one choice at present.

Most recently, Chelsea spent 63.8 million euros (plus 6 million in variable fees) on Joao Pedro, who shone at the 2025 Club World Cup. This player was bought by Brighton from Watford for only 34 million euros. A deal that more than doubled the profit, continuing to strengthen the position of the "transfer market artist" of the Amex team.

Joao Pedro quickly shined at Chelsea.

In total, Chelsea spent €297.3 million on the four players - not including salaries or signing-on fees - for the purchase price alone. Brighton spent just €59.3 million to recruit them. Profit margin: over 400%. Not to mention, they also sold director Paul Winstanley to Chelsea in 2022 (for an undisclosed fee).

So, who wins in this relationship?

Brighton, obviously. With over €330 million, they could “build three Amex stadiums,” as journalist Henry Winter put it. More importantly, they haven’t lost their operating model – still selling players for high prices, still discovering talent at low prices.

What about Chelsea? Under Todd Boehly, the club has spent more than €800m on transfers in the past two years. But the performance has not been worth the expenditure.

Partly because of the constant change of coach, partly because of the shopping strategy that focuses on the “future” rather than the present. The over-reliance on Brighton - a mid-level club - has led many to question: is Chelsea building a squad from a “satellite system”?

It’s worth stressing: Brighton’s ability to develop players doesn’t mean every product they produce will shine at the highest level. Football is an environment, a system. What works well at the Amex doesn’t necessarily work at Stamford Bridge – where the pressure, expectations and stage are much bigger.

So, the Chelsea - Brighton "golden bridge" may be very bright in terms of money, but will it lead to glory? The answer is still waiting for João Pedro - and the future of Enzo Maresca - to decide.

Source: https://znews.vn/brighton-ban-bon-chelsea-sap-bay-vang-post1568262.html