Even though Minteh did not leave the club, Brighton still raised significant funds through player sales in the window, including Carlos Baleba’s £70m move to Manchester United.

After generating those funds, Brighton completed a deadline move for Spanish defensive midfielder Chema Andres from Stuttgart in a deal worth £15.5m.

Andres made 41 appearances for Stuttgart last season after joining from Real Madrid in 2025.

He came through Real’s youth set-up and made his La Liga debut in January 2025, before helping Stuttgart qualify for the Champions League in his one season at the club.

After securing the 21-year-old’s signature, Hurzeler said he “understands” why the Spaniard has been dubbed ‘baby Rodri’.

“He has this motivation of wanting to improve every day,” said Hurzeler.

“He comes on the first day and wants to go outside on the pitch, he wants to have ball touches and you can really feel that he is very ambitious…

“Therefore, I can understand this comparison [with Rodri] but he has a long way to go and hopefully he can get there one day. It would be a big one for us but also for the whole football world.”