Brighton & Hove Albion have announced that seven players will depart the club upon expiry of their contracts following conclusion of 2021-22 season.
Tudor Baluta is the only first-team player to be released upon expiry of his contract on 30 June 2022, despite managing just one senior appearance which came in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa in Third Round of 2019-20 Carabao Cup in September 2019.
Baluta has since spent time on loan at ADO den Haag and Dynamo Kiev either side of spending last season within Brighton’s Under-21 squad, having first joined the Seagulls in January 2019 from Viitorul Constanta.
Newly-appointed Technical Director, David Weir commented on Baluta’s exit as he said: “Tudor has been a great professional and a pleasure to work with during his time here, and he has worked really hard to breakthrough, but found his opportunities limited.
“We feel it is best for Tudor to seek a new challenge and we wish him well. We will assist him doing in that. I would also like to take this chance to thank him for his service to the club.”
Albion have also confirmed that the following Under-23 and Under-18 players will be released:
Under-23 Players
- Adam Desbois
- Lars Dendoncker
- Ulrick Ella
- Ayo Tanimowo
Under-18 Players
- John Lucero
- Jaami Qureshi
Explaining the decision to release the above six academy players, Acting academy manager, Ian Buckman commented: “It is never an easy process when it comes to decision time for our under-23 or academy players.
“For some boys you are delivering very good news, for others it is the opposite end of the spectrum, and that is where our focus as coaches is for the process.
“We would like to thanks all the players for their efforts. We will now work to support those players and help them in the next step on their footballing journey. We will do all we can to help them to find new clubs and make that transition.”
Pascal Gross meanwhile signed a new two-year contract to stay at the AMEX Stadium until June 2024 with Head Coach, Graham Potter feeling “delighted” to retain Gross who he hailed as “a key player” for the club since Potter arrived in Summer 2019.
Potter proceeded to pay tribute to Gross’ talent on and off the pitch as he added: “He is an excellent professional on and off the pitch.
“As one of our senior players in the dressing room, he’s a great example to any young player, and he showed again this season that he is an important member of the squad and key player for us on the pitch.”
Danny Welbeck meanwhile will sign a new contract ahead of the new season with Weir “delighted” to retain both Gross and Welbeck for next season.
Weir proceeded to praise both players for their impact as he added: “Both are important members of Graham’s squad, having each had another excellent season in the Premier League, playing key roles in helping us secure our highest-ever top-flight finish.”
Brighton have also opted to activate options on contract extensions of the following players; Alex Cochrane, Tom McGill, Jack Spong, Lorent Tolaj and Ben Wilson.
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