What is the best possible Brighton XI using only one player from the last eleven seasons? This is our attempt at answering that question.

GK: Bart Verbruggen, 26/27

Starting off with the current season, the Dutch Number One has been very impressive over the last 18 months and has continued his strong form into the new campaign, barring an unfortunate trip to Stamford Bridge.

With three clean sheets in five games, no other Premier League goalkeeper has kept more so far this campaign than Verbruggen. Despite last season being a strong player of the season contender, the feeling among the camp is that this will be his best year yet.

DEF: Ferdi Kadioğlu, 25/26

Brighton’s player of the season last season broke the curse that seemed to see each one leave in the subsequent window (ignoring van Hecke also breaking that curse the previous season). Whilst his first season at Brighton was injury-riddled, the Turkish left-back was very good for the first half of last season.

Despite form faltering as Albion headed into the new year, it wasn’t a particularly controversial win for him at the awards ceremony. I personally would’ve given the award to Verbruggen looking back, but to form a cohesive team for the purpose of this eleven, he easily slots in here.

DEF: Lewis Dunk, 21/22

It was difficult to pick a specific Lewis Dunk season because he has been Mr Consistent throughout the entirety of the eleven years we’re covering. Therefore, he was one of the last players I picked, as I sorted through the more obvious standout years and whittled it down to the more ambiguous.

2021/22 may not have been his absolute pinnacle, but he definitely received the most praise universally around that time, especially given this was Graham Potter’s best season as Albion finished ninth. Still, he had to be here in some capacity, regardless of what season we gave him.

DEF: Adam Webster, 19/20

2019/20 feels like a black sheep compared to the rest of these seasons, largely because there really wasn’t any standout players. That said, if it were to be anyone, it had to be a defender, and I didn’t fancy putting LWB shift Dan Burn.

Like Dunky, Webster deserves to be here; it was just about fitting him in. There’s a world where I put van Hecke for 23/24 and had either Maupay or Trossard as a forward, but I really wanted to recognise how underrated Webster has been for some time in the Brighton space, as much for his off-the-field impact as for his on-field capability. Remember, at this time and in 20/21 there were shouts for him to play for England. That’s how good he was at his best.

DEF: Ben White, 20/21

Regardless of the fact that Leeds fans hijacked the poll that secured him player of the season, he didn’t earn it without merit. In fact, he didn’t earn a £50m move to Arsenal without merit either.

Largely played as a RCB or a midfielder under Potter, he always looked so composed and capable despite it being his first season playing week in, week out at a top-flight level. His ball-progressing capabilities were excellent, and defensively, outside of some Rashford pelters, he stood his ground a number of times against more than capable opposition. The COVID season was an odd one, but Ben White was a huge part of what made it click.

MID: Moisés Caicedo, 22/23

Easily the toughest decision to make here was who would make it out of the 22/23 squad, where we secured sixth and Europe for the first time. I debated a lot, but for maybe the only time on this list, I went with my head over my heart.

Caicedo was unplayable at times. When he joined the club, the South American media described him as a hybrid between N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba and a lot of the time he fit that description to a tee. It was hard to leave Brighton’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister out here, but many would consider Caicedo to be the best outright footballer to play for the club, and the £115m paid for his services backs that up.

MID: Carlos Baleba, 24/25

A contender though for that title is Baleba, who may have had a tough time in 25/26, but the previous season he was running the team. No player has felt more like the definition of the engine room metaphor than him.

His ability to not just win the ball back but blast through opposing defenders with his ball-carrying ability really defined the way Brighton built attacks under Hürzeler, and there really wasn’t anybody else who fit the mantra of best player that season.

MID: Pascal Groß, 17/18

Like Dunk, it didn’t really matter how Groß fit in the team; it just mattered that he did. Whilst we’ve seen some mind-boggling seasons from him, his first season was still excellent, from scoring the club’s first Premier League goal to scoring the goal that secured survival against Manchester United. He continues to ‘dunk’ on the Red Devils a decade down the line.

FWD: Joao Pedro, 23/24

The Europa League campaign was Joao Pedro’s, with 20 goals in all competitions and a talismanic quality to him under De Zerbi.

Whether as a nine or a 10, he continued to be our most potent attacking threat for two seasons.Whether it’s that goal vs Marseille, that game vs Palace or his pen merchant dynasty, Pedro makes the XI.

FWD: Glenn Murray, 18/19

It’s a testament to Murray that despite how awful Brighton were in the Premier League in our second season, he still managed to find the time to bag 15 goals in all competitions to keep us up.Somewhat of a divisive player these days given his move to Palace, one thing you couldn’t knock him for was his consistency in finding the back of the net and winning us games from nothing.

FWD: Anthony Knockaert, 16/17

Much less of a divisive player is Anthony Knockaert, who will continue to be a fan favourite for the rest of time. The promotion season saw him hit a career-best 22 goals and assists in the Championship.

But it was the stranglehold he had over the second tier and the magic moments he produced every week that has etched his name in Brighton folklore.

It didn’t seem to matter to Anthony Knockaert who he played against or what game state Albion were currently in; if you needed someone to pick out the top corner, there’s barely a Seagull in history I would back to do it on every occasion more than Knockaert.