The Brighton May 2026 Player Ratings take on added importance seeing as our WAB Player of the Month vote shed no light on who the best Albion player was in the final month of the 2025-26 season.
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones won the award on account of scoring the goal at Anfield which prevented Brentford picking up three points on the last day and overhauling Brighton to finish eighth in the table.
That would have seen the Bees qualify for the Conference League and Brighton miss out on Europe altogether.
Which would have been quite an impressive achievement, given the Albion were in Champions League contention entering May and then needed only one win from their final two games to secure Europa League.
Thanks to Jones, Conference League football does come to the Amex in 2026-27. Despite Brighton ending the season with a whimper.
Defeats to Newcastle United, Leeds United and Manchester United were all disappointing and littered with individual errors.
The only exception was when the Albion beat rock-bottom, already-relegated Wolves. And even that game was only good for about 15 minutes with Brighton scoring twice in the opening five, ending the contest before some Seagulls supporters had even taken their seats.
So, who was the best Albion player when you take Liverpool man Jones out of the equation? Here are your WAB Brighton May 2026 Player Ratings.
1) Carlos Baleba – 6.26
Baleba ends a difficult season in which he has struggled for form and consistency after those summer links with Manchester United by topping the May 2026 Brighton Player Ratings. Solid showings against Newcastle, Wolves and Leeds meant he could consider himself a little unlucky to be replaced with James Milner for the United game. A reminder of the talent he possesses ahead of another few months where speculation over his future is likely to be rife.
2) Maxim De Cuyper – 6.09
Wolves was his first start since the shambles against Crystal Palace at the end of February. Made the most of it by setting up two goals inside five minutes for Jack Hinshelwood and Lewis Dunk. Maintained his place for the final two games and performed reasonably well.
3) Pascal Gross – 6.07
Number one in the April 2026 Brighton Player Ratings and follows up with another top three finish in May. Only denied a brilliant distance goal by an equally impressive Karl Darlow save at Leeds before being one of the few players who appeared to want to put in the effort needed to make life difficult for United.
4) Joel Veltman – 5.91
Please take note, Fabian Hurzeler. Veltman came off the bench against Newcastle and Wolves. He started at Leeds. Despite such limited game time, he was the fourth best Albion player in May. Keep him for another season and actually play him in 2026-27.
5) Lewis Dunk – 5.77
Started the month out of the team thanks to the superb April form of Olivier Biscagli. That gave us the magnificent sight of Dunk coming off the bench to play up front in the closing stages at Newcastle. Restored to the backline after Brighton shipped three at St James’ Park with the highlight of his month (other than moonlighting as a striker) being a fine header to give Brighton their second goal against Wolves.
6) Ferdi Kadioglu – 5.70
A below-par month compared with the high standards Kadioglu has set this season, although he was not helped by being shoved from pillar to post. Played right back, left back and right midfield at various points as Hurzeler sought different ways to avoid starting Veltman.
7) Jack Hinshelwood – 5.67
Two goals in four appearances yet Hinshelwood has to settle for a lowly seventh place. Finished off a fine one-touch passing move which sliced through the Newcastle defence and then timed his run into the box to perfection to powerfully head home a De Cuyper cross against Wolves.
8) Kaoru Mitoma – 5.63
Who knows how different those defeats to Leeds and Manchester United might have turned out had Mitoma not injured his hamstring in the 3-0 win over Wolves? A devastating blow for Brighton but even worse for Mitoma, who was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup and has since undergone surgery.
9) Charalampos Kostoulas – 5.47
Three relatively decent cameos off the bench interestingly saw him score higher than Danny Welbeck in the May 2026 Brighton Player Ratings. Almost scored a second brilliant overhead kick of the season, only to be denied by a flying Nick Pope save at St James’ Park.
10) Bart Verbruggen – 5.42
Some questionable goalkeeping against Newcastle and his decision to charge 20 yards outside his box at Leeds compounded that unforgettable blind back pass from Jan Paul van Hecke. However, he stopped United racking up six or seven on the final day at the Amex. The importance of which cannot be understated as Brighton finished ahead of Brentford by virtue of just three goals.
11) Yankuba Minteh – 5.37
An inconsistent May summed up an inconsistent season for Minteh. Electric performance against Wolves included a goal but was sandwiched between two games littered with poor decision making at Newcastle and Leeds.
12) Georginio Rutter – 5.22
Four substitute appearances for Rutter as he was unable to wrestle the number 10 shirt off Hinshelwood. Did not really contribute much in any of them.
13) Danny Welbeck – 4.91
Did tiredness catch up with Dat Guy at the end of his most prolific ever Premier League season? Struggled to have any impact, even against Newcastle who he traditionally loves scoring past. Welbeck still should be going to the World Cup over Ivan Toney, mind.
14) Jan Paul van Hecke – 4.67
If May 2026 was to be the end for Van Hecke in a Brighton shirt… what a set of player ratings to finish with. Gave away goals against Newcastle and in spectacular style at Leeds with a ridiculous 96th minute blind back pass we will be talking about for years.
15) Yasin Ayari – 4.65
Like Rutter, Ayari had to settle for four substitute appearances out of four thanks to Baleba almost making himself undroppable. And then when Hurzeler did opt to drop Baleba, it was Milner who came in.
16) Olivier Boscagli
Boscagli paid for Brighton shipping three goals against Newcastle by being dropped for Dunk. Harsh on the handsome Frenchman as Van Hecke was the poorer centre back at St James’ Park.
17) Solly March – 3.46
A farewell outing for March as Hurzeler introduced him for the final 30 minutes against United. The game was already over by that point with the visitors 3-0 ahead, allowing the extended run out for his 300th and final Brighton game.
18) Mats Wieffer – 2.90
His position as a Hurzeler favourite was underlined by him starting despite not being fully fit at Newcastle and then coming straight into the starting XI against United on his return from injury. That was probably a mistake as he struggled against the Red Devils.
19) James Milner – 2.77
Hurzeler opted for the experience of Milner for the big occasion of the final game against United. A bad decision in hindsight as Brighton were outrun in midfield. Little did we know at the time it would be his last ever match after 24 years as a professional.
20) Diego Gomez – 2.70
Did nothing coming off the bench against Leeds. Did nothing starting against United.
The May 2026 Brighton Player Ratings have been formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter or BlueSky and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
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