Brighton opinion: Seagulls should make a move for Reece James

They started the season like a mid-table club and half-way through, they were sitting comfortably at 13th place.

It was exactly where a club like Brighton was supposed to be, not higher, not lower but somewhere around the middle of the table. But what happened after that seemed to baffle even the most experienced Premier League experts.

The Seagulls plummeted towards the bottom of the league, falling four places downwards since. In fact, things were so bad that the odds swung in their favour, instead of Cardiff City, to become the final club relegated back to the Championship.

And few can say that they didn’t deserve it. However, thanks to a little magic and various issues at Cardiff City, Brighton persevered and their place in the Premier League was confirmed with just one game left.

They will live to fight another day and if manager Chris Hughton wants to keep his job, then things need to change. The Seagulls have to stop depending on Glenn Murray so much and ease his burden.

They need to add creative talent to help ease Pascal Gross’ burden and stop spending money on players like Alireza Jahanbakhsh. The 25-year-old arrived for a club record fee and has done nothing substantial for them, playing 24 games and scoring exactly zero goals.

Instead, they should turn their eyes towards proven players, which is what the Sun has reported they are doing. The Seagulls have entered the race for Reece James, with the young full-back doing exceptionally well on loan in the Championship.

Failing to make the Chelsea first-team, the 19-year-old left on loan and has really grown into his position.

So far he’s managed to play all but two games, starting in all but one game for the club. For a club like Brighton, James’ pace and strength will be of great use, both offensively and defensively.

However, he has a lot to improve with the former, but that should happen with regular game time. However, it’s the defensive side that a full-back is very comfortable with. He does have the talent and skill to take it up a notch in the Premier League and effectively replace the 38-year-old Bruno.

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Conclusion

At the age of 19, Reece James will only improve going forward and regular game time in the Premier League would help him do just that. For Brighton, given the state of their right-backs, the club needs reinforcements and James would be the perfect man to replace Bruno.