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Brighton have completed the signing of Maxim De Cuyper from Club Brugge.
Brugge asked for a fee in excess of £17million for the 24-year-old defender, who quickly became a regular for club and country.
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De Cuyper was the subject of an offer from Galatasaray last summer, but opted to stay and excelled for his local side.
He has now completed a move to the Premier League, with Brighton announcing his five-year deal on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Fabian Hurzeler said: “Maxim is a creative left-back who has great experience at Champions League level as well as in the domestic league.
“He has a great reputation for creativity and has shown his ability across different positions, although we primarily see him challenging for a left-back spot with us.
“Maxim arrives having won the league and cup in recent years with Brugge, so it’s great that despite his young age, he clearly has a winner’s mentality. We’re excited to work with him.”
De Cuyper featured 54 times for Brugge in the 2024/25 season as they made the Champions League last 16 but fell just short domestically, three points behind winners Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
He scored four goals and recorded seven assists, whilst also being named in a Champions League Team of the Week despite a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
Brighton finished eighth in the Premier League last season, narrowly missing out on European football, and did so with Ecuadorian Pervis Estupinan at left back.
However, he’s since announced his intention to leave the club, telling national media: “The truth is they have been three years in Brighton with a lot of learning.
“But this will be a transfer market with a lot of movement. The club know that I would like to grow, that I would like to keep growing. The club have understood this.
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“I’ve spoken to the club. The club have given me this bit of freedom to be able to make a decision. Now we will try to see better what is on the table and to see where we can go.”
Brighton have already been very active in the transfer market, making a swap up front after pocketing a healthy £60m from Chelsea for Joao Pedro.
The Seagulls brought in £30m Charalampos Kostoulas to replace him from Olympiacos and they’ve also landed winger Tom Watson from Sunderland and defender Diego Coppola from Hellas Verona.
In De Cuyper they will bring in an improving player who looks to become a Belgian regular under new manager Rudi Garcia.
After his first six caps in 2024, he has earned ten more as a reward for an impressive campaign for boyhood side Brugge.
However, despite the highs, De Cuyper had some rough and tumble to start the year.
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In February he went viral during a match against Atalanta when rival captain Rafael Toloi lost his cool during a 3-1 defeat for the Italians.
De Cuyper was standing close to the Brazilian-Italian for a throw-in and Toloi took offense to the act, attempting to throw the ball at him instead.
He managed to fumble the ball out of his own hands, then chased down De Cuyper, shoving the referee out of the way before knocking over the Brugge man for as clear a red card you’ll ever see.
Later in March he was the victim of some abuse from rival fans of Cercle Brugge.
Club Brugge won the derby 3-1 in the stadium they share, and post match they confirmed that De Cuyper had been attacked by rival fans who spat at him and doused him in beer while he was getting in his car.
The derby had been a tense affair with Club Brugge’s Ardon Jashari planting the club flag in the centre circle post-match, which led to a fight between the players.
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