Brighton stand firm as Hurzeler backs Minteh to ‘fulfil his dream’ – but not yet
Liverpool came calling with serious money. Brighton’s answer was just as serious.
Two bids, £50m and then £60m, landed on the table for Yankuba Minteh during the transfer window. Both were rejected. Brighton’s valuation sat closer to £70m for the 22‑year‑old Gambia international, and the club never blinked.
For Andoni Iraola, keen to sharpen Liverpool’s attack, Minteh was a prime target. A right‑sided winger with pace, direct running and end product, he ticks the modern wide-forward boxes. For Brighton, he is much more than a trading chip.
Minteh arrived from Newcastle for £30m in 2024 and has quietly grown into a central figure on the south coast. Ten goals and nine assists in 73 appearances for the Seagulls tell one part of the story; his importance to Fabian Hurzeler tells the rest.
Speaking before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds, Hurzeler made it clear: Brighton may have turned down a dream move now, but they are not trying to kill it.
“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 Brighton manager said.
That line matters. The dream is acknowledged, not dismissed. The message is simple: perform here, win here, and the door to a blockbuster move stays open.
For the moment, Hurzeler insists there is no split loyalty. No sulking. No lingering hangover from a failed switch to Merseyside.
Minteh, he says, is “definitely” committed to Brighton.
“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 sense of shared progress that has underpinned Brighton’s rise.
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.”
This is Brighton’s model, spoken out loud. Collective success first, individual reward as a consequence. It has already propelled a string of players to bigger stages and bigger contracts, and Minteh now stands in that familiar corridor between present value and future opportunity.
Liverpool tested the structure and found it intact. Hurzeler, for his part, has turned a transfer saga into a challenge to his winger: stay sharp, stay committed, and the next offer might be the one nobody turns down.
