Then more than 100 million expenditure
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For six years, Abdou Diallo (28) has been the most expensive departure in the history of 1. FSV Mainz 05, bringing in 28 million euros when he moved to Dortmund. However, this record could be broken this summer: According to TV channel “Sky”, Brajan Gruda could soon move to Brighton & Hove Albion, and the clubs are said to have agreed in principle on a transfer fee of 30 million euros. It is unclear whether further bonuses could be added.
Reporter Florian Plettenberg reports that the new Seagulls coach Fabian Hürzeler personally convinced the 20-year-old winger to make the transfer. It was last said in June that Gruda was leaning towards a move to FC Bayern, but the rumor has not been confirmed since then. Bayer Leverkusen and, from mid-July, Brighton have also been repeatedly linked with him. Mainz are said to have even demanded 50 million for their homegrown player, whose contract is valid until 2026.
“I would never have thought that everything would happen so quickly six months ago,” Gruda said in an interview with “Bild,” summing up his rapid development last season. “I would like to take the next step. And I think I’m ready for it,” he admitted openly. “I’m not stressing about it, I trust my agent 100 percent – it will all be sorted out.” A few days later, he backtracked a little in an interview with “Sky”: “It’s a difficult topic for me. It’s important for me to play a lot. If I move somewhere and don’t play, it would destroy me. The money will come at some point. The most important thing is that I play a lot and develop further.”
Last season, Gruda contributed four goals and three assists in 29 games, increasing his market value from €500,000 to €20 million. Brighton’s expenses would exceed the €100 million mark with the transfer – for the second time in the club’s history after 2023/24. At that time, this was offset by income of €190.2 million, this year it has so far been around €34 million. Most recently, Yankuba Minteh (20) and Ibrahim Osman (19; will probably be loaned to Feyenoord) moved to southern England, among others, who could compete with Gruda on the wing in the future (see all Brighton transfers). On the transfer side, there are two German European Championship participants, Deniz Undav (28; Stuttgart) and Pascal Groß (33; BVB).
Amnesty International and the German embassy in England should be contacted – after all, they are being held against their will in a foreign country!
Hürzeler really seems to be very keen on a transfer. But there are already 6 players under contract in Gruda’s position, including players of calibre such as Sima, Minteh, March, Adingra, and Ferguson can also play on the outside. Gruda has shown less of his qualities behind the strikers so far, but rather on the right wing. Unless you plan on using him…
