The five Brighton players still expected to leave this transfer window

Brighton & Hove Albion are still likely to sell five of their first-team players before the summer transfer window shuts on September 1.

The Seagulls are currently involved in the Premier League Summer Series in America as part of their pre-season preparations, losing 4-3 to Chelsea in an entertaining game in Philadelphia and beating Brentford 2-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, last night (July 26).

Roberto De Zerbi has taken a 32-man squad with him to the states, including four of Brighton’s new signings – Joao Pedro, James Milner, Mahmoud Dahoud and Bart Verbruggen. The club have also announced a fifth addition to their group this week, signing defender Igor Julio for £17m from Fiorentina.

So far, the club has yet to see many players leaving the south coast in this window. World-Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister joined Liverpool for £35m back in May and Reda Khadra was sold to Ligue 1 club Reims for just under £2m. We can expect at least five more players to leave in the next 36 days, as De Zerbi begins to finalise his squad to compete both domestically and in Europe.

The most-high profile sale will be that of Moises Caicedo. The talented midfielder was one of Albion’s best players last season and is wanted by Chelsea.

The Blues have been chasing the Ecuadorian international all summer and have so far seen two bids rejected by the Seagulls, the latest said to be worth £70million.

Brighton are holding firm on their valuation of their star man, asking the West London club to pay them close to £100m. Albion consider Caicedo to be as good if not better then Declan Rice, who was recently sold to Arsenal for £106m.

Caicedo featured in Brighton’s friendly with Brentford but is reportedly unhappy with his employees for rejecting Chelsea’s initial approach. The 21-year-old has since removed the club’s name from his Instagram bio, as he looks to push through a move soon.

According to journalist Ben Jacobs, talks between Chelsea and Brighton will continue in Atlanta this week. Those in Caicedo’s camp expect a deal to be completed at some point this week.

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Another big name that is expected to leave the Amex Stadium before the end of the window is goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. The Spaniard has fallen-out of favour with De Zerbi, after the Brighton boss dropped him for Jason Steele back in March of this year.

De Zerbi stated at the time the Steele was more suited to his style-of-play of having the ball at his feet and playing out from the back. Sanchez did not take kindly to sitting on the bench and has not travelled to the US for pre-season.

According to the Athletic, Brighton are wanting to sell or loan out the 25-year-old in this window, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich suggested to be interested in signing him.

Striker Andi Zeqiri is also likely to find a new club in August, having not been included in the tour squad.

The 24-year-old is likely to head back to Basel, the club at which he thrived at on loan last season. The forward netted 18 goals in all competitions and helped the Swiss side reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference.

It is reported that FC Basel did have an option to buy Zeqiri after his loan and with one year left on his Brighton deal, the Sussex side will look to cash in while they ca

Elsewhere, striker Aaron Connolly is expected to be shipped out in the near future. Having burst onto the scene with two goals against Tottenham in his Premier League debut back in October 2019, the Irish forward has since slipped off the radar.

Failed loan moves at Luton, Middlesbrough, Venezia and Hull City in the past two years has meant he is been added to the transfer list at the Amex Stadium.

Finally, interest is set to be high for defender Michał Karbownik, following a successful loan spell at 2. Bundesliga outfit Fortuna Düsseldorf. The full-back scored a goal and provided six assists in 27 games in all competitions for F95 last season, earning himself a recall to the Poland squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers in March.

Karbownik, whose Brighton contract expires in 2024, has made just two senior appearances for the Seagulls since his £3m move from Legia Warsaw and is unlikely to get much game time for the Sussex side behind the likes of Pervis Estupiñán, Pascal Groß and Tariq Lamptey.