After losing their best player, manager and 5 coaching staff members to Chelsea, what next for Brighton?

It’s no longer news that Graham Potter is now the manager of Chelsea after getting snapped up from another Premier League club, Brighton mid-season.

Potter arrived at Chelsea with five key personnel, members of his coaching staff at Brighton, some of whom he had worked with everywhere he’s coached.

And while a lot has been made of the move and what it could mean for Chelsea, not enough is being said about Brighton and how these losses could derail their season.

Okay… ”colonising” is admittedly a strong word and perhaps inaccurate but no one can deny that Chelsea have had a big impact on Brighton this season already.

On August 5, 2022, Chelsea announced the signing of Marc Cucurella from Brighton on a six-year contract for £62 million, making him the most expensive full-back in Premier League history.

The Spanish left-sided defender was named Brighton’s player of the year for 2021/21 in what turned out to be his only season at the club.

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were the only full-backs who created more chances than Cucurella did for Brighton last season.

He also ranked third in the league for tackles behind only Tyrick Mitchell and Stuart Dallas, exemplifying the two-way threat that made Chelsea splash £62 million on him.

One would imagine losing this calibre of player would gravely impact Brighton’s season especially as Cucurella played every league game he was available for last season, 35 matches in total.

But the Seagulls have started this season even better than they did with Cucurella, currently fourth on the log with four wins and a draw from six league games 

They did sign Colombian international Marvis Estupinan from Villarreal for around £15 million as a direct replacement for Cucurella but everyone who the constant is, their not-so-secret ingredient, head coach Graham Potter.

Having established Graham Potter as the main reason Brighton have been consistently punching well above their weight, it is only normal to expect a drop in their quality now that he’s gone.

And not just him, Brighton have suffered significant loss to Chelsea in the form of five key personnel who formed Potter’s and the club’s backroom staff.

Assistant manager Billy Reid, first-team coaches Bjorn Hamberg and Bruno, goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts and assistant head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay all followed Potter out of the club.

Macaulay’s departure is probably the most damaging after Potter as he was responsible for talent identification, bringing gems like Moises Caicedo and the aforementioned Marc Cucurella to the club amongst others.

Losing their best player, highly-rated head coach and five key members of staff to the same club within a month could not have been prepared for, especially as the season is already in full swing.

The abrupt nature of the departures have left Brighton with little to no time to seek a managerial replacement, exactly why they have had to promote Andrew Crofts from his role as the u-21 manager to interim head coach of the first team.

Crofts is not the only one who got an unexpected promotion in the wake of the exodus to Chelsea, Brighton u-21s assistant manager Shannon Ruth will now perform the same duties for the first team and former assistant goalkeeping coach Jack Stern becomes the new goalkeeping coach.

Perhaps more interestingly, 34-year-old midfielder Adam Lallana has now been given the responsibility of a player-coach as he is named of Crofts’ hastily assembled backroom staff.

It’s been four days since Potter joined Chelsea and Brighton haven’t even been strongly linked with a replacement which says a lot because four days is a long time in football, especially with a Premier League job vacant.

It shows how deeply Brighton have been affected by Chelsea and it wouldn’t be a surprise if their season takes a turn for the worse from here on out.