By Kieran Maguire

15th Aug, 2023 | 12:57pm

Kieran Maguire reveals what agents really think of Brighton after £115m Caicedo sale

Brighton are known by football agents as a ‘fair’ club willing to sell players for the right fee.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the Seagulls’ sale of Moises Caicedo to Chelsea this week.

After weeks of negotiating and a hijack attempt from Liverpool, the Blues finally secured the 21-year-old’s signature on Monday (14 August) for a record British transfer fee of £115million.

Caicedo became the latest player to join Chelsea from Brighton after Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez joined former manager Graham Potter in making the switch to Stamford Bridge in recent seasons.

Despite losing a number of key players and their manager last season, Brighton still managed a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League in 2022/23 under Roberto De Zerbi.

Maguire hailed the club’s recruitment strategy, investment in infrastructure and long-term vision as reasons for their success in the top flight.

“Brighton selling Moises Caicedo for £115million comes as no great surprise,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“They were castigated in some quarters for rejecting a £60million bid from Arsenal a few months ago.

“I think it is indicative of the culture of the club – they get all the boring things right.

“From building up the infrastructure to having a strategy for player recruitment and the manager is very much a coach that has to fit in with Brighton rather than the other way round.

“They’re also well-known among agents for being fair and not standing in the way of players who want to leave provided someone bids an adequate fee.

“For a club that was languishing in the lower divisions for so long, it is a testament that with a good vision and strategy that utilises data and metrics in a positive way you can build a successful football club.“

In other news, Major update on Brighton replacing Moises Caicedo as deal agreed