Eager to send a message to the rest of the Premier League that they mean business, freshly-promoted side Brighton and Hove Albion have broken their transfer record and signed PSV’s midfield enforcer and Dutch international Davy Propper.
While neither parties have revealed the fee for the player, it is understood that Brighton sent £6-million in PSV’s direction in order to bring Propper to East Sussex, England. Although for many of football’s elite clubs would see the fee as a mere drop the bucket, it is already a considerable amount for the Seagulls, who have an estimated net worth of close to just £60-million.
This is the second time the Premier League newcomers have broken their transfer record this summer, having already spent £5.4-million on Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan from Valencia last month.
“Davy is a player with great experience of the Eredivisie with Vitesse Arnhem and PSV Eindhoven,” club boss Chris Hughton said in Brighton’s official website.
“He’s a strong competitor as a central midfielder and will complement our existing midfield players, and he is also a really good age at 25; we are absolutely delighted to welcome him to the club,” the manager added.
The former PSV and Vitesse star, for his part, is eager to cement his status as a world-class footballer by helping Brighton excel in the Premier League, explaining, “It’s the biggest competition in the world, so this will be a great challenge and I think I’m ready for it.”
A Proper Backgrounder on Davy Propper
Born in 1991 in the Dutch city of Arnhem, Propper picked up football early on, joining Vitesse’s youth ranks at the tender age of 13. Through hard work and discipline, the Dutch international finally caught his break and made his Eredivisie debut for Vitesse in 2010. From there, he would rack up a total 162 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals.
His work rate and control of the ball in midfield evident, Holland heavyweights PSV snapped him up in 2015, where the player would win his first Eredivisie title in his first season with the club.
Now, it appears, Propper is ready for his big test, something Hughton is fully confident in, saying, “There is no doubting his pedigree, Davy has played a number of matches in the Champions League for PSV, as well as international football for the Netherlands.”
Of course, the real test starts once the whistle sounds on Saturday, when Brighton face massive side Manchester City in their opening fixture of the new Premier League campaign.