Brighton's Pascal Gross to sign for Borussia Dortmund

Pascal Gross is a magnificent example of the fact that football is far from over once a player reaches the age of 30. At 31, he became a permanent fixture in Roberto de Zerbi's Brighton & Hove Albion side that wowed the world; at 32, he made his debut for the German national team and survived the Hansi Flick-Julian Nagelsmann hinge; at 33, he will return to the Bundesliga as a Borussia Dortmund signing.

Fabrizio Romano, a knowledgeable journalist, has reported on social media that the Signal Iduna Park outfit will pay the English side €7m plus an additional €7m for him. He had - or has: his departure is not yet official - a contract until 30th June 2025, so the Seagulls get a pretty interesting income for a player who could have waited for a campaign to say goodbye for free.

The versatile midfielder, who was at this summer's European Championship but only played the second half of the group stage match against Scotland, has not lived in his home country since 2017, when he played for Ingolstadt 04. 

It is interesting how Roberto de Zerbi's Brighton has crumbled over the course of just two seasons. The Italian coach is now in charge of Olympique Marseille. Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez are at Chelsea, while Alexis Mac Allister has joined Liverpool. Adam Lallana is also at Southampton. Some key players of that period of brilliance remain, such as Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson.

 

July 30, 2024