Yankuba Minteh's Dream Move Can Wait as Brighton Boss Insists on Team Success

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler insists Yankuba Minteh can still chase his “dream” move one day – but only after he helps drive the Seagulls to more success.

Liverpool saw bids of £50m and then £60m knocked back for the 22-year-old winger in the recent transfer window, as Andoni Iraola pushed to add more firepower to his attack. Brighton held their line. The south-coast club were understood to want closer to £70m before even thinking about doing business.

Minteh, a Gambia international who arrived from Newcastle for £30m in 2024, has grown into a key part of Brighton’s frontline. Operating mainly off the right, he has produced 10 goals and nine assists across 73 appearances, numbers that inevitably caught Liverpool’s eye.

The move never came. The noise, though, has not gone away.

Speaking before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds, Hurzeler made it clear he sees no sulking star in his dressing room, only a player with big ambitions and a point to prove.

“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, framing any future transfer as a by-product of Brighton’s collective rise rather than an individual escape route.

Hurzeler stressed that Minteh remains “definitely” committed to Brighton despite the lure of Anfield and the failed move to Merseyside.

“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, underlining the winger’s place in the club’s recent progress.

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 has been Brighton’s model: build a team, polish the talent, let the market come to them. Hurzeler sees no reason to change now.

“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.”

Liverpool may be back. Other giants might join the queue. For now, Minteh’s stage is the Amex – and the price of that dream move is clear: perform, win, and let the rest take care of itself.