Following a hectic summer transfer window like no other that saw Premier League teams spend a record £2.36bn on new players, Brighton & Hove Albion are one club who have received plenty of plaudits for their astute recruitment policy.
The Seagulls have raised over £300m from player sales over the last 12 months, with a significant chunk of that coming from the British-record sale of Moises Caicedo to Chelsea.
Brighton have responded well, though, by bringing in eight fresh faces this summer, and they arguably saved their most eye-catching addition until the final day of the window when they managed to lure Ansu Fati from Barcelona on a season-long loan deal.
The highly-rated 20-year-old Spain international, who broke into Barca's senior side as a 16-year-old and received the iconic No.10 shirt following Lionel Messi's departure, was linked with a number of top European clubs throughout the summer.
However, Roberto De Zerbi successfully persuaded Fati to make the temporary switch to the South Coast, with the Italian head coach identifying the attacker as a key target following the long-term injury sustained by Paraguayan starlet Julio Enciso.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how Brighton could line up with their new No.31 in De Zerbi's side.
Over the last four years at Barcelona, Fati has made 112 appearances in all competitions, scoring 29 goals and registering 10 assists, and he has predominantly operated as a left-winger, while also featuring at times on the right flank and as a centre-forward.
Fati's versatility in the forward positions should benefit Brighton as De Zerbi is expected to rotate his side while juggling Europa League and domestic duties, but the young Spaniard is unlikely to immediately displace Seagulls star Kaoru Mitoma, as the Japanese dribbling ace appears to have nailed down the left-wing spot. Solly March, meanwhile, is considered a regular on the opposite flank having come on leaps and bounds under De Zerbi's tutelage.
In an ideal world, De Zerbi will look to name as many of his attacking stars as possible in his first XI, and with that in mind, the Brighton boss could use Fati in a central role between wingers Mitoma and March, occupying the spaces in behind the lone striker – presumably one of Evan Ferguson, Danny Welbeck or Joao Pedro.
Enciso operated in the number 10 role in Brighton's 4-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers before picking up an injury in training that is set to keep him sidelined for several months. Both Welbeck and Pedro have since played in the same position, and teenager Facundo Buonanotte is also an option, but the Seagulls supporters could soon see Fati – who will expect to feature heavily under De Zerbi – take up a central role on a regular basis in a 4-2-3-1 system.
Following the departures of Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister this summer, Brighton have spent around £25m on 19-year-old midfielder Carlos Baleba, while Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner have joined on free transfers. Milner has played more at right-back than in midfield so far and will likely continue to compete with Joel Veltman and Tariq Lamptey for regular starts.
However, both Baleba and Dahoud will provide competition for Pascal Gross, Billy Gilmour and Adam Lallana in the middle of the pitch; Jakub Moder will become another midfield option when he recovers from a long-term ACL injury.
A mainstay in Brighton's backline is captain Lewis Dunk, while Adam Webster, Jan Paul van Hecke, Veltman and new recruit Igor Julio are all viable options to partner the Englishman in central defence. Attack-minded left-back Pervis Estupinan is the only recognised first-team option for his position, though, and like Dunk is expected to start regularly.
Between the sticks, Jason Steele was favoured ahead of Robert Sanchez during the second half of last season, which ultimately led to the latter's departure to Chelsea. However, Steele now faces fresh competition to keep the gloves from new signing Bart Verbruggen, who started the last two Premier League games before the international break. body check tags ::
