What happens if you take every player rating score submitted from every game this season, stick it in an Excel spreadsheet full of complicated formulas and then use it to give each individual an average score for the entire campaign? The answer is the WAB Brighton Player Ratings 2025-26.
Bizarrely, these are some of the lowest seasonal ratings we have seen since introducing the system when Glow Up Graham Potter was in charge. Spoiler alert… but Ferdi Kadioglu needed a score of just 6.57/10 to top the leader board.
This despite the Albion securing their joint-second-highest ever finish of eighth in the Premier League and qualifying for European football for only the second time ever.
Much of the damage to scoring was done during that ghastly run of one win in 13 matches over December, January and February.
There was also a disappointing finish of three defeats in four, which saw potential Champions League football turn into scraping into the Conference League.
And the opening three months were not exactly great, either. Brighton sat fifth at the end of November yet nobody was entirely sure how or why.
Thank goodness then for that glorious run of form over March and April. If the Albion had played like that more consistently, we could be looking forward to facing Bayern Munich and Real Madrid next season in Europe.
But to quote Glow Up Graham… it is what it is. And here are your WAB Brighton Player Ratings 2025-26.
29) Igor Julio – 3.33
Igor, Igor, Igor! One appearance for the Brazilian defender who looks like he has been chiselled out of granite in the Carabao Cup at Oxford United. Almost joined Crystal Palace on loan. Did join West Ham United. Hardly played a game for the Hammers. Recalled by Brighton in January and did not play a minute for the Albion when back at the Amex. A strange old season for him personally.
28) Matt O’Riley – 4.17
You may have forgotten that O’Riley scored the first Brighton goal of 2025-26 from the penalty spot in the opening day 1-1 draw with Fulham. After starting the first two Premier League matches of the season, he was loaned to Marseille. Recalled in January despite the Albion have an abundance of central midfielders for a grand total of 25 minutes action in the second half of the campaign. What was the point?
27) Solly March – 4.48
Yet another knee surgery last summer meant March did not play a minute of competitive football until, erm, March. Managed only four substitute appearances and will now leave the Albion this summer after 14 years with the club. The last of those games was at least his 300th game for Brighton. A fitting milestone to bow out on.
26) Charlie Tasker – 4.70
Fabian Hurzeler mainly used his first team fringe players in the Carabao Cup rather than handing opportunities to Under 21s. One of the exceptions to the rule was full back Tasker, who looked decent in his two cameos off the bench in the 6-0 wins over Oxford and Barnsley.
25) Harry Howell – 4.71
Became the first 17-year-old to score a senior goal for the Albion since Jake Robinson when netting at Barnsley. He then took the record as youngest Brighton player to start a Premier League match when surprisingly named in the XI for the shambolic 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
24) Tom Watson – 4.87
Scored on his Brighton debut at Oxford and then set up three of the six Albion goals against Barnsley. None of that was enough to convince Hurzeler to give him a proper opportunity in the Premier League, however, and he was loaned to Millwall in January. Scored once in 12 appearances for the Lions, the majority of which came from the bench.
23) Jason Steele – 4.92
The Albion’s cup goalkeeper did not put a foot wrong when called upon. Made some brilliant saves at Oxford in a chaotic game which otherwise might have finished 6-6. Repeated the trick at Manchester United in the FA Cup, when the home side could have been two or three ahead inside the opening 10 minutes before Brighton went onto win 2-1. Thoroughly deserved his place amongst the England squad as a training goalkeeper at the World Cup.
22) Diego Coppola – 5.01
Towering Italian centre back Coppola looked promising enough when used. But with Hurzeler pretty much wedded to the Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke partnership, game time was at a premium. Coppola subsequently joined Paris on loan in an attempt to force his way into the Italian World Cup squad. Hilariously, Italy failed to qualify. Yes, I am still bitter about the Euro 2020 final…
21) Charalampos Kostoulas – 5.09
Most Seagulls supporters assumed Brighton would not spend £29 million last summer on a striker and use him as “one-for-the-future”. Turns out those assumptions were wrong. Kostoulas showed glimpses of his talent, like with that unbelievable last minute bicycle kick equaliser against Bournemouth. It would have been nice to see more of that. 2026-27 will be a big season for him with Conference League football.
20) Olivier Boscagli – 5.24
Like Coppola, Boscagli suffered from being unable to break the Dunk and Van Hecke partnership for most of the season. A shame as he is clearly a very talented defender, cultured on the ball, has an eye for a lovely raking pass and an absolutely magnificent moustache.
19) Stefanos Tzimas – 5.26
Scored twice off the bench at Oxford and netted his first Premier League goal as a substitute in the 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest at the end of November. Hurzeler seemed ready to release Tzimas on the top flight after that but his full debut against Aston Villa was cut short after 24 minutes with an ACL injury which ended his season. A cruel blow.
18) James Milner – 5.43
A weird season for Milner – and his last after 24 years as professional with retirement now confirmed. Hurzeler gave him pointless cameo substitute appearances to edge him closer to breaking the Premier League record of Gareth Barry, directly costing Brighton points against Fulham and Everton in January. Yet once Milner surpassed the 653 games of Barry, he had a two-month spell of being one of the most important Albion players in the Spring turnaround.
17) Diego Gomez – 5.45
Gomez is a fantastically entertaining individual because he is either really good or really crap. There is never a happy medium. That is reflected by a score of 5.45 in the WAB Brighton 2025-26 Player Ratings despite scoring 10 goals from midfield. Admittedly, four of those did come against Barnsley. But the fact only Glenn Murray and Bryan Wade had netted four times in a game over the previous 35 years tells you how difficult it is – no matter the opponents.
16) Brajan Gruda – 5.47
Gruda only played half the 2025-26 season and yet still scores better in the WAB Brighton Player Ratings than Hurzeler favourites like Gomez and Milner. Yes, he wanted and needed to play regular first time football. But loaning him to RB Leipzig made little sense when it left Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh as the only two senior wingers in the squad. It will be interesting to see what the Albion do with Gruda this summer as he does not appear to be a player Hurzeler likes or trusts.
15) Maxim De Cuyper – 5.55
Signed in the summer to replace Pervis Estupinan, Hurzeler’s decision to settle on using the versatile Kadioglu as a left back left De Cuyper out of the side for much of the season. Which was sad as he is great fun to watch. Cannot really defend which is a bit of a problem for a full back. Good going forward though and knows how to cross a ball, as shown with his two assists in the opening five minutes against Wolves at the Amex.
14) Carlos Baleba – 5.72
Something of a fall from grace for Baleba, who topped the 2024-25 WAB Brighton Player Ratings but tumbles all the way down to 14th in 2025-26. Reasons put forward for such a decline in form include not getting a move to Manchester United and problems in his personal life, as eluded to by Cameroon head coach David Pagou when Baleba delivered his best form of the campaign whilst at AFCON.
13) Mats Wieffer – 5.74
Now very much a right back – not just for Brighton but also the Netherlands as he earned an international recall in the nick of time ahead of the World Cup. Wieffer saw his season punctuated by a series of injuries. His status as a Hurzeler favourite was underlined by his immediate return to the starting XI whenever fit. Something Hurzeler did with no other player, usually preferring to ease them back in gently.
12) Jack Hinshelwood – 5.75
Alongside Milner and Pascal Gross, Hinshelwood was one of the most important individuals in the Spring turnaround after Hurzeler moved him further forward into the number 10 role. That form was actually good enough to put him in the conversation for Player of the Season. Yet he does not even make the top 10 in the WAB Brighton Player Ratings – showing 2025-26 was very much a season of two halves for Hinshelwood.
11) Georginio Rutter – 5.76
2025-26 was the difficult second album for Rutter. Three goals and four assists is not really the sort of return you expect from a £40 million club record signing. In defence of Rutter, his output definitely suffered by Hurzeler continuing to play him as a number nine in order to rest Welbeck. It seems mad people watching from the West Upper through the lens of 10 pints can see Rutter is not a striker but a highly paid Premier League head coach cannot.
10) Danny Welbeck – 5.77
Something of a surprise to see the 2025-26 Brighton top scorer and striker many people wanted in the England squad occupying only 10th place in the WAB Player Ratings. The reason? Welbeck’s goals came in bursts, like seven in eight games over October and November. When he was finding the back of the net, he was magnificent. In games he did not score, he tended to have little impact. He still should have gone to the World Cup.
9) Joel Veltman – 5.88
Are you reading the WAB Brighton Player Ratings 2025-26, Herr Hurzeler? Veltman scores higher than Wieffer despite starting only nine Premier League games all season with a further 15 appearances from the bench. It is bizarre how Hurzeler has willingly discarded the best right back at the Albion.
8) Kaoru Mitoma – 6.06
Mitoma suffered an injury-hit campaign which meant his numbers are lower than previous seasons. Just three goals and one assist from 27 games in all competitions. There were still some memorable moments. His Marco van Basten-esque volley at Spurs won the Guinness Goal of the Month Award for April. Mitoma also scored at Wembley to give Japan their first ever win over England. The Samurai Blue looked great that night, making it particularly gutting that Mitoma misses the World Cup after undergoing hamstring surgery.
7) Yasin Ayari – 6.09
An underrated 2025-26 season from the most underrated player in the Brighton squad. Ayari stepped up well to run the midfield when Baleba was so out-of-form in the first half of the campaign. He even started offering goal involvements in January. A run of two goals and two assists in four matches was unceremoniously ended by a dislocated shoulder. He struggled to get back in after that thanks to the performances of Gross and Milner.
6) Lewis Dunk – 6.24
What a bounce back. Dunk sat 19th in the 2024-25 WAB Brighton Player Ratings. Even his most ardent backers conceded the Albion might need to phase out their captain coming into 2025-26. Not so. A rise of 13 places reflects a much improved campaign.
5) Yankuba Minteh – 6.38
Minteh was electric through the opening months before suffering something of a lull in the winter. The worst case of dead leg known to man meant he did not start a game across January, February or most of March. Played two more matches in 2025-26 than 2024-25 but ended up being less productive – scoring only three times compared with six whilst recording four assists again.
4) Pascal Gross – 6.39
Gross only returned to Brighton from Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window. Secures fourth place in the WAB 2025-26 Brighton Player Ratings for half-a-season’s work. Nothing more to be said.
3) Bart Verbruggen – 6.50
Yes, Verbruggen has made some high profile errors. But he has also earned the Albion a lot more points than he has cost. Most notably with that stoppage time penalty save against Brentford in November. Had it finished Brighton 2-2 Brentford rather than Brighton 2-1 Brentford, it would be Bees fans spending their summer worrying about flights to Kazakhstan for the 2026-27 Conference League and not us.
2) Jan Paul van Hecke – 6.51
Van Hecke finished just 0.06 points behind Kadioglu in the race for top spot. Which probably means the Dutch defender would have taken first place had he not given away three goals in the final six games of the season. If you can look past the mistakes at Spurs, Newcastle and Leeds United, Van Hecke had another fine campaign. One which is almost certainly his last in a Brighton shirt.
1) Ferdi Kadioglu – 6.57
If there is one phrase in football which gets my goat, it is saying a player returning from injury will be like a new signing. Well, Kadioglu returning from injury was like a new signing for Brighton in 2025-26. Nobody including Hurzeler seemed to know what his best position was last season. There is no doubt now he is a left back. And a bloody brilliant one at that. Voted WAB Brighton Player of the Month four times since December and – another spoiler alert – he will probably add WAB Player of the Season to the collection when the votes are counted up and the results announced. Has great hair and fashion sense too.
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