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Profit Players: Davy Propper’s then-record £6m acquisition has proven to be smart business by Brighton
This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.
Brighton’s Davy Propper, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday, is now entering his fourth season as a Seagulls player, having become their then-record signing when he joined from PSV Eindhoven for £6m in August 2017 (as per BBC).
His purchase seemed quite a shrewd one by Albion, who at the time were preparing for their first Premier League season and who had managed to land a player with recent Champions League experience with his previous club.
Indeed, the midfielder had a TransferMarkt value of £9m at the time of his move to the Amex Stadium, so he already seemed something of a cut-price coup upon his arrival in Sussex.
The Dutchman quickly became a key component of Chris Hughton‘s line-up, starting all but three league games in his first season at Brighton and contributing four assists. He had a slightly lower tally of 30 league starts in 2018/19 and supplied just two assists as the Seagulls narrowly avoided relegation. However, he had the satisfaction of scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-1 defeat at Leicester in February 2019.
When Hughton left at the end of that season to be replaced by Graham Potter, Propper may have wondered whether he would still be a regular in Albion’s first XI. He soon got his answer, starting 32 of Brighton’s top-flight matches last term and contributing a goal and two assists.
The Dutch midfielder’s goal tally of two in 110 matches for the club leaves substantial room for improvement, yet he has undoubtedly progressed in other aspects of his game. For instance, having achieved a success rate of 78.1% from 39.7 passes per game in his first season in England, he averaged 51 passes per game in 2019.20 and found a team-mate with 84.2% of those (as per WhoScored).
He has also been consistently reliable in terms of breaking up play, with match averages of 2.1, 1.7 and 1.8 successful tackles per game in his three years at Brighton.
Has Davy Propper proven to be a good-value signing for Brighton?
Yes
No
Propper’s current TransferMarkt value is £12.15m, more than double what the Seagulls paid for him in 2017, and it had even risen to £15.3m at the end of 2019 before the global pandemic prompted a downturn in football finances.
Having been a near-constant presence in Albion’s line-up under two managers, as well as improving his market value during his three years with the club so far, the 29-year-old can be regarded as an astute purchase who has made a steady yet important contribution to the team in his time at the Amex.
Brighton fans, what have you made of Propper’s time in Sussex so far? Share your views in the comments section below!
