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Brighton Set For Cash Injection From Former Goalkeeper
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- Brighton Set For Cash Injection From Former Goalkeeper
(REUTERS)
Brighton and Hove Albion are set to receive a windfall from the recent move for Kjell Scherpen to Ipswich Town.
The former Brighton man is set to finalise his move after completing his medical with his new club today.
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The Seagulls have a 40% sell-on clause in his contract from when he made his move to USG in July last year.
Considering that the deal was just €2 million, and now he is set to sign for Ipswich for around €10 million plus €3 million in add-ons... Albion will make around €7.2 million for a fringe goalkeeper who has never played for the club. Pretty incredible business!
Despite hardly kicking a ball in the blue and white stripes of the Albion, Scherpen had a pretty good season at USG. Known as a very strong shot-stopper, the Dutch keeper kept an impressive 17 clean sheets in the Belgian Pro League last season from 32 games played. Scherpen was the only regular starting goalkeeper in the league to keep a clean sheet in more than half of his appearances (53.1%).
While there are encouraging signs when considering his shot-stopping and stature, he lacks the ball-playing ability that may have suited a club like Brighton.
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Overall, he looks like a very solid piece of business for Ipswich and could potentially border on excellent. At 26 years of age, there is still a lot of growth to come from him. It would be impossible to write off his potential at this stage.
Could he have made it at Brighton?
From a Brighton fan's perspective, it is encouraging to know that players who may not make it at the club can go on to become good players elsewhere, but some will argue they could have made more of an impact at the club.
Since letting go of Robert Sanchez , both Steele and Verbruggen have been the mainstays in the squad. Steele helped guide Brighton to Europe, while Verbruggen is very young and learning on the job. He is also the main Dutch number one goalkeeper, which is exceptional experience for his age bracket.
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Realistically, Brighton could pocket over £40 million this summer from goalkeeping sales alone without selling Verbruggen, Steele or even James Beadle .
For me, the question marks remain over the sale of Carl Rushworth for up to £30 million. Would he be able to exceed the potential of a player like Verbruggen? Could he become England's future number one goalkeeper over James Trafford , Dean Henderson and Jordan Pickford ?
These questions would be the alarm bells for letting go of Rushworth, who has just won Player of the Season for Coventry City, while simultaneously winning the league with the most clean sheets and making the official EFL Championship Team of the Season. His potential, at 25, is still incredibly high.
