Who wins Albion Analytics' Alternative Awards for the 2025/26 season?

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Here's who the data highlighted for their top performances during the campaign.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2026-06-09T08:00+01:00

Pascal Gross is Albion Analytics' signing of the season. 📸by Paul Hazlewood.

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Albion Analytics alternative awards, a slightly different — and data-driven — look at the standout Brighton players at the end of each season.

After a successful campaign in which Fabian Hurzeler’s side finished eighth and earned a place in next season’s UEFA Conference League, here are the categories:

Data darling - the player with the best underlying numbers
Best Under-23 - players aged under 24 at the end of season qualify
Signing of the season
Best creator
Goal of the season
Performance(s) of the season

Data darling: Jan Paul van Hecke

Jan Paul van Hecke made 36 Premier League appearances during the 2025/26 season. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

No outfielder played more for Fabian Hurzeler this season than centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke. The Netherlands international showed different sides of his game, ranking inside the top five Premier League defenders for interceptions (47) and finished as the best player in the division for line-breaking passes (457). Consistently he stepped out with the ball to make passes through midfield. van Hecke also played the most line-breaking passes last season, and while he made four errors leading to goals, his on-ball quality was fundamental for Brighton’s build-up.

Best Under-23: Bart Verbruggen

Bart Verbruggen didn't miss a minute of Premier League football for Albion during the 2025/26 season. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Bart Verbruggen earns the crown for his reliability as No 1. He heads to the World Cup this summer for the Netherlands off the back of his best season to date. The 23-year-old conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game, the best by any Brighton goalkeeper since Robert Sanchez in 2021/22. His reaction shotstopping underpinned this, ranking third among Premier League keepers for goals prevented above average (+5.5), with only Senne Lammens and Gianluigi Donnarumma outperforming him. Meanwhile, he improved at catching crosses and continued to show his technical capabilities. Verbruggen played the most passes of any Premier League No 1 (1,549). He also made what proved to be a decisive penalty save, keeping out Igor Thiago’s second penalty of the game in a 2-1 home win over Brentford — the team Brighton finished directly above, on goal difference, to qualify for Europe.

Signing of the season: Pascal Gross

Pascal Gross re-joined Albion in January after 18 months with Borussia Dortmund. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

This was a category with fewer contenders because Brighton had a relatively quiet summer window, opting to keep the core of the team that finished 8th in 2024/25, and Danny Welbeck was trusted to step up at No 9 after Joao Pedro, top scorer in Hurzeler’s first season, was sold to Chelsea. It was no coincidence that Albion’s late-season upturn in form came following the resigning of Pascal Gross in the winter window. The German international rejoined after a spell at boyhood club Borussia Dortmund, and started 18 matches in a midfield that was built on experience, with Gross, 34, and 40-year-old James Milner paired together. Per 90 minutes this season, Gross ranked 12th for final-third passes (14.6) and third for both crosses (6.3) and chances created (2.1). He became the glue in Brighton’s attack, often rotating out to the left to create triangles and open up passing lanes. Assists for first-time finishes by Mats Wieffer (away to Burnley), Kaoru Mitoma (away to Tottenham Hotspur) and Diego Gomez (at home against Nottingham Forest) proved important.

Best creator: Yankuba Minteh

Yankuba Minteh scored three goals in the league for Albion during the 2025/26 season.

The only Brighton player to set up more goals than Gross last season was Yankuba Minteh. The Gambia international created four goals and was consistently a creative outlet at right wing. His 142 dribbles ranked him fourth among all Premier League players, and a completion rate of 45.8% was high among frequent dribblers. He connected well with Georginio Rutter early in the season and in particular his inswinging crosses were dangerous — he made goals for Kaoru Mitoma (vs Bournemouth) and Danny Welbeck (against Leeds) with such deliveries, ranking ninth for crosses attempted (159). When Hurzeler switched him to left wing later, he adapted, with whipped balls into the box that created goals in statement wins over Chelsea and Liverpool.

Goal of the season: Welbeck v Liverpool

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In 2025/26, Danny Welbeck tied Glenn Murray from seven seasons ago for the most Premier League goals by a Brighton player in one term (13). His 12th came against Liverpool at the Amex, one of three matches in which he scored a brace — before this season hadn’t done that since April 2023. Welbeck and Brighton’s second over Liverpool earns goal of the season because of the component parts in its build-up: Gross pulling out to the left, Minteh providing the cross from left wing and No 10 Hinshelwood crashing the box to set Welbeck up with a tap-in. It was a combination of one winter signing and two excellent tactical tweaks by Hurzeler. That result ended up being the second game in a streak of five matches where Brighton earned 13 of a possible 15 points, and it reignited the possibility of European football.

Performance(s) of the season: Diego Gomez vs Barnsley 10, 9.4 vs Leeds

This award goes to the highest-rated individual match performance as per Sofascore. Diego Gomez effectively wrote his name on the trophy in late September when he scored four goals in the 6-0 Carabao Cup away win over Barnsley. He had a goal of the season competition with himself, including an outrageous strike from 35 yards, the longest-range goal by a Brighton player in all competitions since 2021/22.

In the Premier League he earns performance of the season too, bagging a brace in the 3-0 home win against Leeds, twice crashing the box for one-touch finishes after low cutbacks by Minteh and Rutter. That day he also won seven of nine ground duels and completed 18 of his 20 passes.