Adored by Thomas Müller - Why Brighton did well to sign top talent Brajan Gruda

Brighton have signed Mainz’s top talent, Brajan Gruda. Both clubs made the transfer official on Wednesday. It is a record sale for the Bundesliga club. According to a report by Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Mainz will receive €30 million for the 20-year-old winger. German magazine Kicker reported that the entire package of the deal could grow to €35m. Mainz will also receive a percentage of any future transfer. 

“I’m really pleased to get the opportunity to work with Brajan. I saw the big impact he made last season in the Bundesliga, and he’s a player I admire a lot,” Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler said in a club statement. The Premier League will be a different challenge but I’m looking forward to working with Brajan and helping to develop his big potential.” Hürzeler has reportedly been a big factor in convincing Gruda to join the South England-based club. 

 

Convincing Mainz, however, was more difficult. Brighton weren’t the only club interested in the talented German attacking midfielder. In June, Bayern Munich were interested in signing Gruda, who made headlines after training with Germany ahead of Euro 2024. Another club interested was Bayer Leverkusen. But Mainz asked for an exuberant transfer fee of up to €50m for their academy player, who was still under contract until 2026. With Hürzeler having convinced Gruda, Mainz were willing to step down their demands. Still, the reported fee makes Gruda the third most expensive player in Brighton’s history (overview).

Leaving Mainz: Brighton signing was ready for the next step 

“I never thought half a year ago that things would develop this quickly,” Gruda recently said in an interview with Bild when asked about his rapid development over the 2023/24 season. “No doubt, I was motivated to make the next step, and I think that I was ready for it. I never stressed out about it and trusted my agent 100% that they would sort everything.” But then Gruda also added the following in an interview with Sky. “It is a difficult topic for me,” Gruda said. “Because for me the most important thing is that I will play. To move somewhere where I won’t play would destroy me.”

Perhaps it was the promise of playing time that made Gruda opt for Brighton? Make no mistake, the 20-year-old saw his development skyrocket because of the amount of minutes he received at Mainz. Gruda played 28 Bundesliga games last season, scoring four goals and four assists. Ultimately, the game that made Gruda catch national attention in Germany was Mainz’s 3-1 defeat to Bayern last October. Gruda had an excellent game and had an assist. Following the match, Thomas Müller swapped jersey’s with the talented youngster and said: “When you watch him, you see that he has something special. It’s about consistency for him now. That’s why I got his jersey back then and made it public. I thought he was remarkably good.” 

Ever since that moment, Gruda was thought to surely join the Bundesliga giants and perhaps even become Müller’s replacement, especially after Gruda was called up by Julian Nagelsmann ahead of the Euros. Gruda didn’t represent Germany at the tournament, but his rising star meant a move to Munich seemed inevitable. That, for now, won’t happen as Brighton swooped in quickly to get the deal done.