BrightonSeagull

It wasn’t my intention to leave your whole quote out for sneaky reasons or anything like that. Only did so as I found it clearer to respond to specific things you said rather than a whole block of text, I’ll keep your whole quote here this time to show good faith. “Some of your fans might start dreaming of that moment you progress as a club sufficiently that you stop selling these players and start holding on to them but anyone with those sorts of dreams probably wants to look to a club like Dortmund.” I promise you Brighton fans are generally more grounded than most. We’re arguably THE stepping stone club in the PL. We’ve lost many beloved (and not so beloved) players at this point. More than most PL clubs (yourselves being the closest in comparison for sure). There are few delusions that our best players will be here forever. I think we’ll keep them longer than many mainstream fans think though. Eg, this is Mitoma’s 3rd season now. Easily one of the most exciting players I’ve seen wear a Brighton shirt. Hinshelwood came through our academy through every age group and supports the club, so he’s one I can see staying for the long term. If you don’t know much about him you will do in the future. “But a key part of that business model is selling them on when the big clubs come calling. You won't hold Buonanotte back when he wants to go because, if you did, that sends a message to other young players that might be thinking of using Brighton as a stepping stone that maybe they should reconsider. You don't want that, so you'll sell.” Absolutely agree and I’m completely comfortable with that personally. Given how successful our club model has been, leading to us being the 2nd highest spenders in Europe thru last window, spending 200+m, I have full trust in Tony Bloom and his vision and recruitment strategy. I remember panicking slightly when we sold Cucurella (believe it or not. He was our player of the season), and the club shortly after brought in Pervis Estupinian. Since then I’ve learned to trust the club fully and not be concerned when we make a big sale. Back to Buonanotte, I have no doubts he will move on when the time is right. But that’s the key. And Bloom has made a very good call to more often than not sell these players at their peak valuation point. Usually for the maximum fee possible (unless there’s a clause or expiring contract or such). The club are very firm on this, and what you’re saying is pretty much bang on with what Arsenal fans told us when we refused to sell them Caicedo a few January’s ago. They were outraged. “You’ll never get more than the 80m we offered” (wrong), “no young player will go to Brighton again as you’re holding them hostage” (also wrong). Given how good we are with forward planning my guess would be Buonanotte and his father & agent are already fully aware and onboard with the clubs long term plan for him. You’re right. We get these players because they see what we do for their careers. Again I’m delighted Facundo is doing so well for you guys. And if he does brilliantly and helps keep you up, it’s a win-win for all. Hopefully he can even help you take off some points off our European rivals. I have no arrogance and am fully aware you guys have more history than us. You have won one of the greatest trophies. At the moment we’re higher in the food chain, but we all know how football goes in cycles. This is our moment in the sun, and hopefully we can win our first ever trophy in the coming seasons and much as you guys did, disrupt the Sky6 for a few years.

Don’t understand your point? He’s under contract with Brighton for 4 years. So we hold all the cards. Does it mean he’s going to be at Brighton for life? Of course not. That’s a strawman. No Brighton fan thinks that. And no football fan of any team thinks this for most best players anymore. Those days are gone. Even Haaland won’t be at City his whole career. He will move on when the time is right with our best wishes. If you haven’t noticed we have a number of exciting young talents, Buonanotte is not an exception. Enciso, Joao Pedro, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Ferguson, Adingra to name a few. If Brighton want Buonanotte back, he’ll be playing at Brighton nest season. “Greedy” 😂 That’s what Big6 fans say when they don’t get our players on the cheap. Nothing to do with being greedy. If an elite or oil club wants them, we’ll sell our best players at full market value, as we or any club should.

Yes we would. Agree with the gist of many of your posts in this thread, but not here. I’d personally be very disappointed to sell Buonanotte for £50m. That’s nowhere near his peak value and if I were a Leicester fan I’d be delighted with that deal. Given his age and ceiling I’d be looking at £80m+ and I’d still be unhappy to sell him. Crazy money but that is the industry we’re in, and Brighton have shown they won’t be pushed around by bigger clubs. We’ll extract maximum value and rightfully so. But you’re spot on in other posts. Many Leicester fans are setting themselves up for disappointment if they think they’ll sign him come end of the season. And I don’t say that to be arrogant, as Brighton fans we went through similar with Levi Colwill. The mantra of “don’t fall in love with a loan player” does tend to hold up. What happens next season with Facundo remains to be seen, a lot of ways things could play out, so speculation to say he’s definitely not going back to Brighton or whatever. Eg, Pedro and Mitoma and/or another could be sold in the summer. We may reach Europe again - so we’ll need a big squad. Or we won’t reach Europe. Too many variables. My hope is we reach Europe and recall Buonanotte as we need a bigger squad. But am delighted to see him doing well at Leicester and the fans love him. If he plays well and helps keep you up in what is always a tricky first season back, it’s win win for all.