Boscagli: Tough talks with Hurzeler exactly what I want

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Defender joined us from PSV earlier this month.

Charlie Hanson

2025-07-19T12:00+01:00

Olivier Boscagli spent six years with previous club PSV. 📸 by James Boardman.

Fabian Hurzeler’s desire to improve Olivier Boscagli was a big reason for the Frenchman joining Albion.

The former PSV defender signed for Albion on a five-year deal earlier this summer, having won back-to-back league titles in the Netherlands.

Despite proving his ability with his ex-team, an honest conversation about developing his game with Hurzeler was refreshing.

“My talk with Fabian was really nice and he didn't tell me what I wanted to hear," Olivier explained. "It was funny because the talks were more about my weaknesses than my strengths.

“But it's something that I liked because he showed me directly that he wants to improve me and I didn't have any doubt about coming here.

“I have big goals in my head, of course, every football player does. But I think the biggest goal at the moment is to take the club back into European football.

“That's something that we talked about with the coach, with the club and something I think was important, because this is where Brighton should be. If I can help the team to get the club back into European football, I will be more than happy. It’s the biggest goal at the moment.”

The 27-year-old has demonstrated his versatility in the Netherlands, playing at centre-back and left-back, but feels most comfortable in the heart of defence.

“Centre back is my best position because this is where I played my best games so far and it's a position that I really like. You have a total view of the pitch and the players, which you can control a bit.

The Frenchman has said his best position is centre-back. 📸 by James Boardman.

“Sometimes you can have a lot of ‘shadow work’ because you're not scoring so many goals, not giving too much access [to their attackers], but at the end you can also decide the game by defending and by saving some goals.

“It's different job, I would say, than the strikers because maybe we are less in the spotlight, but it's something that I like also.

“I admire Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos, for example. Because if you look at them, they're not the biggest guys, the tallest guys or the strongest guys.

“I'm not typical central defender. I'm not 1.95m and 90 kilos, but I have different quality, I think."