'Our friends' - Brighton chief pokes fun at Chelsea after Joao Pedro transfer
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Brighton chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber insists relationships with Chelsea are good as trading between the two clubs continue.
Brazilian striker Joao Pedro was the latest high-profile exit as he joined the Blues for £60m earlier this month.
Chelsea have now sent around £300m in Albion's direction in recent windows, with the likes of Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez all swapping the Amex Stadium for Stamford Bridge.
Even former boss Graham Potter was in on the act he and his backroom staff moved to Chelsea for £20m in 2022 for a brief and unsuccessful stint.
Barber, speaking on the BHA Podcast, admitted losing Pedro this summer was a blow but said they negotiated hard with Chelsea.
"We are disappointed that he wanted to leave but the deal had to be right for us as well," Barber said.
"We were able to negotiate very hard with our friends at Chelsea and get the best possible deal."
Paul Barber: We speak to Chelsea most summers
The money Brighton have received from Chelsea over the years has covered the entire build of the Amex Stadium and the Lancing Training facility.
Asked by podcast host and former Albion striker Glenn Murray if it's easy to deal with Chelsea because of their recent history, Barber added: "We speak to Chelsea regularly, most summers actually. Relationships between the two clubs are good.
"There is a very small market at the top end of football for trading players.
"It's inevitable from time to time you are going to deal with the same club again. Perhaps not as regularly as we do with Chelsea but it's a normal thing.
"We sold a couple of players to Arsenal [Leo Troassard and Ben White], sold a player to Tottenham [Yves Bissouma].
"I'm sure in the future we will sell players to some of the bigger clubs in Europe as well. That is the nature of our business model."
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