In full Bloom: Brighton well set for success with or without De Zerbi

‘I believe in betting aggressively and, occasionally, to win big, you have to risk losing.”

Tony Bloom has always been a gambler, although when it comes to running Brighton the owner has tended to steer clear of taking too many risks. So it’s unlikely the man known as “the Lizard” during his days as a professional poker player has been losing too much sleep about what will happen this summer with Roberto De Zerbi, especially in a week when Brighton banked record Premier League profits of £122m.

That is still a drop in the ocean compared with the more than £400m the 54-year-old has lent the club where his uncle Ray is a director and his grandfather Harry was vice-chairman during the 1970s. Bloom became a silent investor in 2007 when Brighton were playing at Withdean Stadium in League One and took over as chairman two years later. It was revealed by the chief executive, Paul Barber, that the club’s profits, thanks to their sixth-place finish last season and player sales that did not even include the £140m received from Chelsea for Moisés Caicedo and Robert Sánchez, had enabled them to “make a substantial repayment to him reducing the loan balance from £406.5m to £373.3m”.

“In a season when we made history on the pitch, we took a huge step forward in terms of the club’s long-held aim of becoming more sustainable and less reliant on Tony Bloom’s incredibly generous levels of investment,” said Barber, the former Tottenham director who has extended his contract to 2030. “We now have a very solid platform to continue to make significant progress on the pitch, by investing in our squad, and off the pitch by making the match-day experience even more enjoyable for our supporters, all of which we believe will help us to continue to grow.”

Bloom is renowned for his generosity, having supplied free breakfast and lunch for employees at Brighton’s training ground in Lancing since 2020 and played a major role in establishing the club’s Albion in the Community scheme and other local charities. Supporters will welcome the two-storey fan zone that was granted planning permission last month and is expected to be completed in time for next season but it is matters on the pitch that will most immediately concern them. With Arsenal up next on Saturday and Manchester City visiting the Amex Stadium at the end of April, Brighton could have a major say in the title race, but their hopes of qualifying for Europe again may rest on whether their top scorer, João Pedro, can rediscover his form after two months on the sidelines.

The Brazilian was Brighton’s record signing from Watford last summer for £30m and could be a target for other teams at the end of the season along with Kaoru Mitoma, whose injury issues may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Brighton if they mean the Japan winger stays. After De Zerbi made clear his future could lie elsewhere if Brighton are unable to match his lofty ambitions, the question is whether Bloom will stick or twist in terms of spending in an attempt to continue their progression.

De Zerbi was optimistic about their chances of reaching Europe after the stalemate against Brentford on Wednesday and seemed relaxed about when discussions with Bloom over his future will take place.

“When he wants, when he has time,” he said. “For me, nothing has changed – at the moment we have to be focused on the games because we have a clear possibility to achieve a European position as well. So we have to improve on what we can and then we will find the time to speak and say our ideas and ambitions without problem.”

De Zerbi, always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, has made clear on several occasions his feelings about the impact that the demands of playing in the Europa League have had on his squad. After the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in December, he singled out Carlos Baleba – the Cameroon midfielder signed from Lille for about £23m as a replacement for Caicedo – for criticism after substituting him at half-time.

“Baleba is not ready yet to play at this level but he has incredible potential and the policy of Brighton is to play with many young players,” he said. “We have to accept and we have to be happy to play, to work, with these young players.”

De Zerbi said after Brighton’s win over Nottingham Forest last month that the 20-year-old Baleba, man of the match against Brentford, could become “one of the best midfielders in the Premier League” but it is not clear whether the Italian has the patience to see whether his prophecy comes true on his watch. Although reports this week distanced Barcelona and Liverpool from making an approach for De Zerbi, Bayern Munich are said to have placed him on a three-man shortlist to replace Thomas Tuchel, and Barber – who joined Brighton in 2012 and is considered a key lieutenant for Bloom – has acknowledged there are “no guarantees” he will stay despite having two years on his contract.

“Every time that you do well in the Premier League, expectations go up, not just from your fans but also from your coaches, players and staff,” Barber said. “It’s a challenge to make sure you can meet those expectations but it’s something we intend to try. As always in football there’s no guarantee. With Roberto, it doesn’t matter if we’re sixth; he’d want to be fifth. If we were fifth, he’d want to be fourth, and so on. That’s the way that he’s built, he’s commanding, but we like it that way. He pushes us all to be better.”