'Something I don't see that often' - Brighton and Hove Albion summer signing responds to glowing praise from his new manager
Maxim De Cuyper has something special which is not common in football, according to his new boss Fabian Hurzeler.
De Cuyper signed for Brighton this summer from Belgian side Club Brugge for a fee believed to be around £17m.
The 24-year-old has signed a five-year contract until June 2030 and impressed during the pre-season friendlies. Solid defensively, he is also a threat going forward and scored a well-taken goal in the 2-1 win over Wolfsburg the Amex.
Pervis Estupinan’s replacement has been playing with freedom and is already forming an exciting partnership with Kaoru Mitoma.
Asked about De Cuyper after the first match in front of his new home supporters, Albion head coach Hurzeler said: "I’m very impressed, because he integrated as a person quite quickly, and that's something I don't see that often in the football business.
"He does it in a very natural way, not in an artificial way, and therefore you can see that he's immediately integrated in the team on the pitch by having good performances, by playing a good game, so therefore I'm happy for him.”
Not long after these comments were made, De Cuyper came out for his first chat with the Albion media.
Asked by Sussex World how he has settled in so quickly, the Belgium international – who has only ever played in his home country – said: “This is a really familiar club.
"Everybody likes to help each other. It's not that we have individuals in the team. That was so clear from the beginning.
"I'm really taking advantage of that, because it's really a team. They really helped me from the first day. That's what makes it a lot easier to have a move like this.
“I really needed the time to know my teammates. It's not from the first friendly I'm playing like this, so I start to know my teammates now, the way we want to play, so it's growing every week.”
De Cuyper said it has been ‘nice to hear’ the positive reviews from fans after his pre-season performances.
"I also enjoyed to play [against Wolfsburg],” he added. “We had some good moments, some moments to work on.”
The left-back was also asked about Kaoru Mitoma – with the pair starting to show signs of an exciting link-up.
“I think everybody knows his qualities,” De Cuyper said.
"I can take advantage of his qualities. If he's pulling two defenders to him, it gives me more space to do something.
"I think we have good cooperation between each other and we can use it.”
De Cuyper showed a striker’s instinct to rifle home from a difficult angle on Saturday. It proved to be the match-winner as Wolfsburg grabbed one goal back shortly afterwards.
Describing his goal as ‘good but nothing special’, De Cuyper added: “I was just at the right place, so that's it.
"It can be that I will be there [in front of goal] often, but at the right time. Not every attack I will be there, so I'll have to take my moments and hopefully can score more goals.
“We had a lot of control over the game. We had a lot of possession. We did some great things, also out of possession. The only thing is that we lost a little bit of control at the end of the game last week and this week, so that points way forward.
"Yes, I think it [the problem] is clear and we will speak about it and where the solution is to improve on that. Then we will get better and better.”