Decision made as former Arsenal winger moves back to Brighton – Leicester and Ipswich men to follow
All the latest transfer news for Brighton and Hove Albion and across the Premier League
Brighton winger Amario Cozier-Duberry returns to the Amex Stadium after his season loan at Blackburn.
The 19-year-old made 22 appearances in the Championship with six starts and scored once for Rovers in a 2-0 victory against relegated Luton.
Brighton signed Cozier-Duberry from Arsenal last summer. He impressed for the Seagulls during their pre-season tour of Japan but game time at Brighton in the Premier League was always going to be tough this season and a loan to Blackburn was agreed.
The former Arsenal man said it was a valuable learning experience with Valerien Ismael's team who finished seventh in the second tier.
"I’ve learnt a lot in my time at Rovers that I want to take into the next season and grow from it,” said the Albion man to RoversTV.
“I’ve learnt how relentless the Championship is with how many games there are. It’s very different to what I thought it would be like. Nutrition and recovery are two key things I’ve learnt about here.
“The goal I scored against Luton and getting Man of the Match in that fixture, that would be a highlight. I also got Man of the Match against Hull, which was another good day on a personal level."
Cozier-Duberry will hope to impress Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler this summer but once again faces stiff competition.
Albion have an abundance of attacking talent in wide areas with Yankuba Minteh, Brajan Gruda, Ferdi Kadioglu, Solly March, Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra all expected to be pushing for minutes next season.
Julio Enciso, Jeremy Sarmiento and Facundo Buonanotte also return from from their loans at Ipswich Town, Burnley and Leicester City respectively.
Cozier-Duberry is contracted with the Seagulls until June 2028.
Madrid eye Bart Verbruggen
Meanwhile Brighton stopper Bart Verbruggen is said to be on the Real Madrid shortlist. Verbruggen has impressed for the Seagulls this term and Hurzeler has previously compared his Dutch international stopper to German legend Manuel Neuer.
“This is his first full Premier League season, he played last season, but it was like two games in, two games out. It's not easy to get into a rhythm.
"Now he's playing every game and it's also changed for him. We see a great person, we see a great goalkeeper with the potential to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
"That's what we really try to get out of him. You need to go through a phase like this. You need to go and stay exactly in these moments, be very stable.
"You need to show personality. And that's what I demand from him and that's what he's also able to do. And that's why I think that he will come out of this phase very strong and will be a big, big goalkeeper for us.”