Brighton have taken their spending in the summer transfer window close to the £200m mark after confirming the signing of Ferdi Kadioglu from Fenerbahce.
The Turkey defender was in attendance at the Amex Stadium for Tuesday night’s EFL Cup game against Crawley, with Brighton confirming his arrival just before kick-off. He is understood to have cost €30m (£25.4m) and has signed a four-year deal after impressing for Turkey at Euro 2024.
“I’m very excited because we are getting an excellent player and a great character. He has great ability, is a strong runner and very good at passing,” said the Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler.
“He is predominantly a full-back and can play on the right or left side; he can also play in the centre of midfield. He is someone who is very keen to learn and develop, and with that in mind I’m confident he will adjust to the Premier League and adapt quickly to English football.”
Brighton also confirmed the signing of Matt O’Riley from Celtic on Monday for £25m, with the Denmark midfielder making his debut against Crawley but lasting only six minutes before having to leave the field with an injury after a challenge by Jay Williams. They have already added midfielders Mats Wieffer and Brajan Gruda for around £27m each, while Yankuba Minteh cost £33m from Newcastle and Georgina Rutter was a club record transfer £40m from Leeds.
Before Saturday’s victory over Manchester United, Hürzeler paid tribute to Brighton’s hierarchy for backing him in the transfer market. “I’m very thankful that the club shows their ambition, especially Tony Bloom the chairman and Paul Barber the CEO,” he said.
“They showed their ambition by doing this, by signing great players who might improve the club. In the end it’s up to me and my team to use these players and to make out of individual players a group. That’s the most important thing, to create a team and create a togetherness.
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“That will be my job together with my experts in my staff, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m very thankful that the club shows their ambition by making these signings.”