Good with his feet, a risk taker and lots to learn - Brighton new-boy Bart Verbruggen (2024)

Bart Verbruggen is a trademark signing for Brighton & Hove Albion.

The 20-year-old has been scouted extensively and he has high-level potential, with the prospect of his value multiplying if he continues to develop under their guidance.

Albion have tweaked their succession planning, going externally to capture Verbruggen for £16.3million ($20.7m)to take into account Roberto De Zerbi’s specific method of using the goalkeeper as the trigger for the Italian’s precise way of playing out from the back.

That is the reason De Zerbi promoted Jason Steele in March at the expense of former No 1 Robert Sanchez.

Verbruggen will challenge Steele, who is 12 years older. His arrival puts a question mark over not only the future of Sanchez, who refused to sit on the bench towards the end of the season, but Verbruggen’s fellow Dutchman Kjell Scherpen.

The 23-year-old, who is 6ft 9in (206cm) tall, has been hampered by injuries since signing from Ajax in July 2021 and spent last season back in his homeland on loan to Eredivisie club Vitesse Arnhem.

Verbruggen is the latest addition to an enviable pool of young goalkeeping talent at Brighton.

Carl Rushworth is with the England under-21s squad for the European Championships in Georgia. Signed from fifth-tier Halifax, his hometown team, in January 2019, Rushworth has made good progress via the club’s use of the loan market.

He spent the 2021-22 campaign at Walsall in League Two, then stepped up to League One with Lincoln City last season, where he kept 18 clean sheets in 46 appearances.

Another rise in level to the Championship could be the next loan step for Rushworth, although De Zerbi will use pre-season to assess his options.

Beneath Rushworth, England under-20s keeper James Beadle is stepping up to League One this season with Oxford United, after a promising stint on loan at Crewe Alexandra in League Two last season.

The 18-year-old kept three clean sheets in nine appearances from January for Crewe before an ankle injury in April curtailed his stay. Further down the production line, Brighton believe 16-year-old Lorenz Ferdinand — the son of former Manchester United and England central defender Rio Ferdinand — has a bright future.

But for now, it appears to be Verbruggen who will be the immediate future.

Verbruggen made 23 appearances in all competitions last season and kept 10 clean sheets, including eight in 17 league matches. He stepped up under manager Brian Reimer, who was appointed in December, after starting the season playing for the under-23s.

Despite only becoming first choice in December, his performances earned him Anderlecht’s player of the year award, and impressed at the Under-21 European Championship this summer. This is what he will bring to De Zerbi’s team.

Distribution

One of Verbruggen’s biggest strengths is his ability and calmness on the ball, which should be no surprise given howBrighton and De Zerbi want to play. “I have one core quality and that is my feet. I feel very comfortable on the ball, I excel at that,” he said last year.

Most of his passes are shorter and from a deeper position around and inside his own box, acting as the pivot at the back while moving or advancing the ball to his team-mates to overload areas of the pitch, allowing the team to build from the back.

Verbruggen excels at playing the ball vertically and skipping lines, whether that requires a driven ball over the top out wide or a ball played quickly and with pace up the middle through the opposition’s press. His long(er) balls are effective at stretching the opposition and pinning them deep in their half.

In this example against Mechelen, Verbruggen took up the position at the base of the defence as the pivot and first completed two shorter passes to his team-mates.

With few short options, Verbruggen took the ball to the edge of the area, inviting the opposition, before passing over the first two lines of pressure…

… landing at the feet of Francis Amuzu to start a counter-attack.

It is not uncommon for him to venture well outside his goal with the ball and help them advance further up the field and pin the opposition back by sweeping balls over the top.

Even though he is brave with the ball at his feet, playing out from the back religiously comes at a cost from time to time. Verbruggen can get himself into trouble, occasionally trying to force balls into areas where the space is limited, leading to turnovers, chances on goal and goals against.

The most notable example of this was the third goal against Zulte Waregem in a match that finished 3-2.

Verbruggen fed the ball to Michael Murillo on the right…

… but Alioune Ndour chased him down and won the ball…

… and it resulted in Anderlecht conceding.

While it was Murillo who was dispossessed, Verbruggen put him in a difficult situation and he lacked awareness of the danger.

His decision-making and execution will be tested more in the Premier League and the risks will be greater and more costly. De Zerbi will encourage him to continue to play the same way, as he did with Steele last season.

Command of his area

Verbruggen is blessed with height and long arms. He knows how to use his reach and wing span to his advantage. His size and aggressive starting position help him own the space where shots are most likely to come from, even when his box is busy.

His aggressive starting position helps him adjust rapidly, assess the percentages and evaluate balls into his box. His proactive positioning slows the game down and makes everything more fluid and predictable.

In this example against Villarreal, he anticipated and read the flight of the curled cross…

… which allowed him to catch and relieve the pressure.

Verbruggen is a risk taker and does go outside his range or mistime his challenges when in crowded traffic — not a surprise given his inexperience.

Against AZ Alkmaar, Verbruggen decided to come and try to deal with a dangerous inswinging cross.

However, he was too slow and was left in no man’s land as Jens Odgaard got to the ball first.

He was fortunate the header went over the bar.

In another example, under no pressure, he read the flight of a cross against Sint-Truiden wrong…

… and had to be bailed out by his defender.

Most goalkeeper coaches prefer a goalkeeper who is over-ambitious rather than one who is too safe. Verbruggen is already strong and confident in the air and the key is minimising the mistakes.

Shot stopping

Verbruggen has good hands and holds a lot of shots. His reflexes and athleticism are excellent. He is quick and direct to the ball, which allows him to make many saves through a variety of methods.

He is rarely beaten from distance but uses his entire body to make saves when the opposition are through on goal. His split-second decision-making and actions often lead to impressive saves and is why Vincent Kompany gave Verbruggen his opportunity when at Anderlecht — and it was also why Kompany was keen to link up with the ’keeper again at Burnley.

In this example, Verbruggen parried the initial shot…

… but got up quickly, kept his eyes on the ball, and used his athleticism to quickly turn away the rebound.

Verbruggen’s positioning is impressive for a young goalkeeper, with small and minimal movements allowing him to consistently get into the correct shape to make the save.

One example was his reflex save against Union St Gilloise’s Simon Adingra, who will become his team-mate at Albion, at the back post. Verbruggen travelled all the way across his goalmouth…

… and got set into the perfect position to deny a certain goal.

But Verbruggen is far from perfect. Against Genk in the middle of April, he conceded five goals, with his involvement questioned in a handful of them. His distribution was inconsistent and inaccurate — but that appears to be a small blip rather than a theme.

This deal does come with risks. It is a lot of pressure to place on an inexperienced 20-year-old with only half a season of true first-team experience, so there are likely to be growing pains as he adjusts to a new country and the jump in quality.

But there is also a reason why he has reportedly been on Manchester United and Liverpool’s radar. Brighton will now be relying on him to keep them at bay during the upcoming campaign.

(Top photo: Patrick Goosen/BSR Agency/Getty Images)