Brighton star without a Premier League start singled out by Fabian Hurzeler after transfer u-turn

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler insists Jakub Moder still has a key role to play this campaign.

Moder, who is out of contract at the end of the season, looked to be leaving last summer but his potential move to Leicester fell through.

The Poland international almost joined the Foxes as part of a package that nearly brought Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Brighton. Dewsbury-Hall in the end decided to join Chelsea and Moder remained on the south coast.

Moder’s chances of first team football under Hurzeler looked slim – and even more so after midfielders Matt O’Riley, Mats Wieffer and Ferdi Kadioglu were signed for a combined total of £75m.

But injuries to O’Riley, James Milner and Carlos Belaba has bumped the 25-year-old back up the pecking order and Moder started in the Carabao Cup loss to Liverpool last week and was then a second half substitute in the 2-1 Premier League loss at Anfield – his first top flight outing of the season.

Moder, who joined for around £7m from Lech Poznań in 2020, is yet to start a match in the Premier League this term but Hurzeler believes he has a role to play.

"He had a long injury, a bad injury,” said the German head coach. “Before this he was an impressive player, it’s also our responsibility to get him back into shape and he’s looking good.

“He needs game time, he needs minutes to get back to the shape and I hope that he will stay fit and he will be training. It is so important, now like all the other players it’s about them and the will and an intrinsic motivation to improve everyday.

"Then I’m sure that he can play an important part in our squad because he has a lot of skills. He’s fast, he’s good with the left and right foot, he can play in several positions so these players are always helpful for the squad.”