£600m raised but Brighton aren’t a selling club! Tony Bloom’s transfer model explained after Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella & Carlos Baleba deals

Some sizable fees have been brought in, with Ecuador international Caicedo joining Chelsea in a then British record £115m ($156m) deal while fellow midfielder Baleba has headed to Manchester United for £70m ($95m) during the current window.

Huge profit has been made on many of those leaving the south coast for pastures new, with Brighton mastering the art of buying low and selling high. The success of their recruitment has become the envy of many Premier League rivals+.

The plan, however, has never been to become a feeder club. Ex-Seagulls boss McGhee - speaking in association with the ‘Brighton & Hove Albion: Stand or Fall’ gallery that celebrates the club’s colourful 125-year history - told GOAL when asked about stunning transfer business: “The recruitment's fantastic, and there's so much that's data-driven. But, I was saying to someone else recently that I think sometimes people get mixed up with the fact that Tony's model is one whereby they produce players and sell them.

“I would describe it more as they produce players and have to sell them, because agents and players and bigger clubs come along and harvest the good players that they have, and they have no choice in the matter.

“Tony's come up with a model that allows that to happen without undermining the ability of the club to move forward and for the team to keep winning. I think that people should get it the right way around. I think if Tony Bloom didn't have to sell a player, he wouldn't sell a player, but in this world that we live in, he's got no choice.”

Pressed further on Brighton becoming a breeding ground for superstars, as full potential is unlocked in hidden gems, McGhee added: “There'll be, over the next five years or so, certainly, and over the next 10 years, there'll be a lot of players playing at a really high level that have Brighton & Hove Albion and Tony Bloom to thank for the brilliant start in their careers.

“The level of professionalism and the level of infrastructure at Brighton is second to none. They're not a club that can aspire, I think, to necessarily winning the Champions League, but they do everything at that level. If any players stepped in from a Champions League club, they wouldn't be disappointed. They're absolutely top drawer.”

Brighton have come a long way in a relatively short space of time, as nine-figure transfer deals were unimaginable during McGhee’s time at the helm - as he scratched around in the second and third tiers with virtually no funds to work with.

The Scot said of his kitty: “My brief would have been to sell any player I could sell, regardless of where we were, what we were doing, because they needed this money to fight these public inquiries. I think they told me they spent - I might be exaggerating, but I think they spent something like £3 million at least on public inquiries.

“So, when we were bringing in quite a lot of money for Adam Virgo and people like that, it was just concentrating on that. And, therefore, no, there was no budget. We got free transfers, young players coming through. We did what we could.”

A new permanent gallery telling the story of the Seagulls’ 125-year history opened at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery on August 15. The interactive exhibition brings together iconic objects, treasured memorabilia, archive material, film and personal stories to tell the story of one of English football's most resilient clubs. Visitors will explore the triumphs, setbacks and defining moments that have shaped BHAFC and its place at the heart of the city for more than a century.

While Baleba has become the latest star to slip the Seagulls’ net, there is still plenty of talent at head coach Fabian Hurzeler’s disposal. He has guided the club back into Europe, as they take in Conference League action, and opened the 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a convincing 4-0 victory over Aston Villa.