'I don't mind being awkward' – Brighton CEO Paul Barber reveals secret behind Todd Boehly, Chelsea and Marc Cucurella record breaking deal

Brighton and Hove Albion have developed a reputation for being shrewd operators in the transfer market during the past few seasons
Marc Cucurella joined Chelsea from Premier League rivals Brighton for £63m in last summer's transfer windowMarc Cucurella joined Chelsea from Premier League rivals Brighton for £63m in last summer's transfer window
Marc Cucurella joined Chelsea from Premier League rivals Brighton for £63m in last summer's transfer window

The club’s data driven transfer model – led by chairman and owner Tony Bloom – has helped them unearth some of the finest young talents from across globe and also closer to home – here, Paul Barber discusses their approach on the Albion Roar podcast.

Since 2018, Albion have added the likes of Yves Bissouma, Leo Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Tariq Lamptey, Rob Sanchez, Marc Cucurella, Ben White, Kaoru Mitoma and Jakub Moder to their first team.

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By Premier League standards, all arrived for fairly modest fees, with Sanchez and White both progressing through the club’s youth academy and benefitting from loans to the lower divisions.

White departed to Arsenal for £50m at the start of the last season, Bissouma went to Tottenham for £30m, while Trossard, Sanchez, Mac Allister and Caicedo in-particular would all command substantial fees if they were to be sold in the coming windows.

But it was the staggering £63m fee that Brighton received for Cucurella from Chelsea last summer that really caught the eye. The Spaniard had arrived just 10 months earlier from Getafe for £15.4m and made only 34 appearances for Albion before sealing a record breaking move to Stamford Bridge.

Manchester City appeared to be his preferred destination and Pep Guardiola’s champions placed an initial bid of £30m which was swiftly rejected by Brighton chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber.

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City reportedly returned with an improved offer of £40m – a fee that would have seen Brighton more than double their money on a player they brought less than a year ago – but that was also rejected.

Cucurella, 24, wanted to leave and submitted a transfer request but Barber and Albion held firm and were prepared to take the risk of having an unhappy on their hands.

Chelsea were yet to make their move but when their new owner Todd Boehly did, it caught many surprise and it also triggered the start of many dealings between the two clubs throughout the summer months.

Cucurella’s fee sky-rocketed from around the £40m up to £63m and it was an offer Barber, Bloom and Brighton could not refuse. It also allowed them bring in defender Levi Colwill on loan from Chelsea for the season and also Ecuador international Pervis Estupinan as a replacement from Villarreal for £15m.

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It’s a business model that has served Albion well of late and has allowed them to compete in the top half of the Premier League table. Barber also rejects the notion that Albion are easy pickings for larger clubs to poach their best players and staff – despite the recent exits of Cucurella, Bissouma, White, Dan Burn, plus Graham Potter and his entire management team to Chelsea.

"Cucurella [to Man City] is a good example of where we can say no and for lots of reasons,” said Barber speaking to the Albion Roar podcast.

"At that moment the time and price was not right. To optimise the price you need more than one bidder. We are not going to give into the first bid that comes along.

"Then you get to the point where the price is optimal and then Tony [Bloom] and I have to take a view. I’m on the receiving end of those negotiations, I'm on the receiving end of what Tony's expectations are. I can go into a negotiation knowing what my parameters are and knowing when I can say yes or no, what I need to get – can I get a bit more, can I make it better for the club? If I can then I'm quite happy to be the awkward bugger in the room to actually say no. That is my job and I'll do that whenever it is appropriate for the club.”

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Barber also believes succession planning is the key in football, as is protecting their assets with suitable contracts and transfer fees. The Albion chief admits the timing of Potter’s exit to Chelsea was far from ideal but once again they were protected by the length of his contract and they also received a hefty £20m compensation package for Potter and his backroom team from Chelsea.

“It's a nonsense to suggest that we are an open house for players or staff,” Barber added. “We have a way of working and we know the value of people. “We protect ourselves with contracts and we always look to maximise value on the contracts. There are times when we say no and that has happened previously.

"It is not an open house but staff members are prisoners at football clubs. You can protect through notice period and gardening leave but legally you can't say to someone you can't move to Chelsea or whoever else. When it comes to players you can only protect by contracts and value of transfer fee. What you never want are unhappy players and unhappy staff members.

"There are times players are unhappy for a short period, the window closes and they have to get back down to their job – that's what we pay them to do. “But you don't want too many players in that situation, so you have to be pragmatic and judge the right time to sell. Sometimes that is earlier than we like as fans, but from business point of view it might be the optimum time.”We make a lot of investments in young players, we believe in our coaches to develop them and there will always be a point where we move them into our first team group and save ourselves a transfer fee or move them out of the club for a big fee. It is why we are able to be top 10 and hopefully into the future. We have to compete in a different way to the traditional top six.”