Three Brighton players expected to leave on loan before the window closes

The Brighton boss was speaking ahead of his side's first away trip of the season to face Wolves at Molineux on Saturday, August 19.

De Zerbi has recently seen his talismanic midfielder Moises Caicedo sold to Chelsea for a record £115m and youngster Odel Offiah loaned out to Hearts for the rest of this season.

It seems the club are not finished there, after the Italian hinted that there would be more outgoings from the Amex Stadium in the next two weeks.

When asked who might be going, De Zerbi said: “[Yasin] Ayari, and we will see about Steven Alzate and Facundo Buonanotte because I would like to give them and all players the right space, but the rules of football means you can only play 11 players.”

Ayari joined the Albion in January of this year from AIK for £3.5m. The Swedish midfielder has struggled to force his way into the Brighton side since joining, making just four appearances and being left out of the matchday squad for the Luton win last Saturday (August 12).

Buonanotte was also signed by the Sussex side in the winter transfer window and was a more prominent member of the first team squad, scoring one goal and assisting two in 13 appearances.

However, the signing of Joao Pedro, reintegration of loan star Simon Adingra and return of Adam Lallana has knocked the young Argentinian down the pecking order in De Zerbi’s attacking options, meaning he may be forced to find regular first-team football elsewhere.

Alzate had spent last season out on loan at Standard Liege and many had expected the midfielder to be a part of De Zerbi’s plans this season, following the sales of Caicedo and Mac Allister.

The 24-year-old had impressed whilst playing out in Belgium, but it seems the club are keen to bring in at least one new midfielder with the money generated from the Caicedo sale and send Alzate back out on loan for another season.

Brighton currently have 11 players out on loan already; including Abdallah Sima (Rangers), Jeremy Sarmiento (West Brom) and Deniz Undav (Stuttgart).

The club strongly believe in using loan moves as a pathway into their first-team, having successfully used it to develop Caicedo, Mac Allister and Ben White into key members of the first-team squad.