Graham Potter assesses Brighton's transfer priorities after record financial losses

Like many football clubs, Brighton have been hit hard by the global pandemic, which arrived during the second half of last season.

Albion's turnover for the 2019-20 campaign dropped to £132.9m, against £148.2m in 2018-19 – and there was an increase in losses to £67.2m from £21.2m.

The figures are a clear reminder that even clubs at the very top level are suffering and one way to ease Albion's financial strain would be to sell their best players.

Yves Bissouma 24, Ben White, 23, and Tariq Lamptey, 20, are perhaps Brighton's most significant assets in terms of player value.

The combined value of the talented young trio could easily see Brighton recoup more than £100m but Potter believes chairman Tony Bloom will continue to make the best short, medium and long term decisions for the club.

"We are not the only ones of course," said Potter, when asked to comment on Brighton's financial situation following last night's 0-0 draw against Fulham. "It's a challenge for football at every level.

"Not just football, the fact we are in a national lockdown, a global pandemic and in incredibly unprecedented times.

"We are thankful because we have an incredible chairman that helps us. We are trying to do our best to make the right decisions for the club and try to develop a team that is young and sustainable for us going forward.

"We need to make good decisions in regards to that. It is tough for everybody."

When asked if he was fearful of losing his best players, Potter added: "No. We have a fantastic chairman that makes the right decisions for the club, in short medium and long term.

"We are sensible with regards to that. We know where we are in the pyramid.

"If Real Madrid or Barcelona come in for one of our guys, it's difficult for them to be stopped. But we always know where our value is and where our players' value is and we are quite strong with that.

"Our job is to keep improving. Develop what we have been doing and eventually we will come out of this a lot stronger."

Bloom was also upbeat and outlined his plans in his annual statement. Bloom is adament Brighton will not to be a selling club and will continue to invest in order to establish themselves and be competitive at the highest level.

"[It was] One of the most challenging in our club's history. During the second half of the season, the world was in the grip of a devastating global pandemic that changed so many aspects of life in so many ways - football included."

"Our vision is to be a top-ten Premier League club," said the chairman.

"We will achieve this by working together with smart recruitment in all areas, a productive academy, world-class facilities, and a sustainable budget."