Our men’s under-21s will face Nice and Monaco in friendlies on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’re taking two teams over including the under-18s who are contracted for next season,” under-21s boss Shannon Ruth explained. “It gives those players a good opportunity to see how we work and it puts them in a high level game to perform in.
“One of the key things we feel about player development is giving them different experiences to help serve them in the future.
“We feel playing against top European teams’ academies adds to their experiences and it’s something different that you don’t always get.
“We’ve managed to build relationships through the International Cup and as the club grows, the world of football becomes more aware of what Brighton are trying to do as a club, and that means opportunities like this come up."
The two games fall during a fortnight gap for the under-21s, who face Wolves in their final Premier League 2 game of the regular league game next Monday. Should they win that, they will qualify for the playoffs.
Ruth wants to use this trip to France to help bring everyone together ahead of that fixture, as well as build relationships ahead of next season.
“It’s not every day you get to go to the south of France and play against two top teams. So they’re looking forward to it. It’s a good opportunity to get players and staff away together. It helps bring everyone together, it makes it a really rich experience.
“We hope that one day they will travel around the world playing football, so this is a good education.”