Hurzeler Backs Minteh to Achieve Dream Move After Brighton Success

Fabian Hurzeler insists Yankuba Minteh can still chase his “dream” move one day – but only after helping Brighton achieve theirs.

Liverpool tested Brighton’s resolve twice in the summer window, lodging bids of £50m and £60m for the winger as Andoni Iraola searched for extra firepower. Both offers went straight back. Brighton’s valuation sat closer to £70m for the 22-year-old Gambia international, and they never budged.

Minteh cost Brighton £30m from Newcastle in 2024. Two years on, he has grown into a key part of the Seagulls’ attack, operating mainly off the right and contributing 10 goals and nine assists across 73 appearances. Those numbers, and his profile, inevitably dragged him into the market spotlight.

The move never came. The noise did.

Hurzeler, speaking before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds, made it clear the winger’s story with Brighton is not finished yet.

“If the whole team is successful and the individual shines then Yankuba will get a lot of attention again and he can then maybe fulfil his dream in the next transfer window,” the German said.

The message was blunt: perform here, and the door to Merseyside or anywhere else will open again.

For now, Hurzeler is adamant there is no sulking, no split dressing room, no lingering hangover from Liverpool’s failed pursuit.

Minteh, he stressed, is “definitely” committed.

“He wears the Brighton colours, he wears the Brighton badge. He has been with us for two years now as part of the squad. He has achieved great things together with the boys,” Hurzeler said, leaning into the collective thread that runs through Brighton’s model.

Then came the challenge.

“It's also about him now to commit. In the end, we always say we want to be successful as a club and then you can shine as individuals.

“That is what we have proved in the past. If we achieve things together, the attention will come to the individual players and that will be the case also this season.”

That line could sit on the wall of Brighton’s training ground. The club have turned that philosophy into a conveyor belt: build the team, polish the individual, sell at a premium.

Minteh is simply the latest to reach that crossroads. Brighton have set their price, drawn their line and kept a winger who knows the Premier League, knows the system and has already produced in their shirt.

Now the question is simple. With Liverpool sent away and Leeds up next, does Yankuba Minteh turn this season into the one that finally forces the door wide open?