Brighton ‘Not Afraid’ Of Losing Key Players Amid Carlos Baleba Exit Rumours, Says Hurzeler

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has expressed confidence amid ongoing transfer speculation, saying he does not "feel fear" about losing key players this window despite strong interest in midfielder Carlos Baleba.

It has been reported that Manchester United and Manchester City have shown keen interest in Baleba, with Brighton setting a hefty asking price of £103m (€120m) for the Cameroon international, who joined from Lille in 2023.

Baleba has made 61 appearances for Brighton in the Premier League in two seasons, helping them to eleventh and eighth-place finishes, respectively, with the club narrowly missing out on European qualification last term.

Baleba has found the back of the net three times and assisted once during his two seasons at the American Express Stadium.

Speaking on the BBC's Monday Night Club podcast, Hurzeler was asked if he feared losing his best players, to which he responded: "No chance. I don't feel fear.

"I'm not afraid of anything, because the only thing we can do is be the best version we can be every day, like work as hard as we can.

"All the other things we can't influence, so we really have to focus on us. For sure, we can't spend the money like the big teams, but one of our biggest values is togetherness. And if you stay together, if we try to push our limits and increase the boundaries, then I'm sure we can compete with the big teams."

Brighton have been active in the transfer market, signing Charalampos Kostoulas, Maxim De Cuyper, Italy international Diego Coppola, and Tom Watson from Sunderland.

Although Baleba missed Brighton's last pre-season friendly against Wolfsburg due to a knee injury, he is expected to feature in their Premier League opener against Fulham on August 16.

Hurzeler also commented on Brighton's approach to player departures and the club's resilience: "We as a club always find solutions, and I'm sure in the future we will find solutions. That's our model, we have to accept it."

Brighton have developed a reputation in recent seasons for generating large transfer fees, with players like Moises Caicedo, Joao Pedro, and Marc Cucurella all moving on for over £50m each.

Hurzeler emphasised that while the club does sell players, they do not sell every key asset: "I think that as a club we have proved we are not only selling big players.

"We have had offers for other players, big offers for [Kaoru] Mitoma and other players. We proved that we are not selling every player.

"Of course, there were some big players who left the club, but there are new players that are coming into the club. With the togetherness we have, with the team chemistry we have, we can compete with the big teams, and we can compete with teams who might be individually better than us."