Yankuba Minteh's Future at Brighton: A Dream Move Awaits

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 wanted closer to £70m for the Gambia international and never blinked.

Minteh, signed from Newcastle for £30m in 2024, has grown into a key part of Brighton’s front line. Operating mainly from the right, he has 10 goals and nine assists from 73 appearances – not gaudy numbers, but the kind that hint at a player still climbing, still learning, still adding layers to his game.

So when Liverpool came calling, Brighton’s stance was clear: not yet.

Speaking before Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds, Hurzeler framed the failed transfer not as a closed door, but as a challenge.

“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.

The message was pointed. Dream moves are earned on the pitch, not in the rumour mill.

Hurzeler stressed there is no sulking, no split dressing room, no player halfway up the M6 in his head.

Minteh, he said, is “definitely” committed to Brighton despite the rejected switch 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 a group that has consistently punched above its financial weight.

Then came the challenge back to the player.

“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 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.”

Brighton have built a reputation on exactly that model: develop, showcase, sell at a premium. Minteh knows the path. For now, he runs it in blue and white, with Anfield watching from a distance and the next window already looming in the background.