Sussex

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

We have received some questions via our Brighton 'Ask Me Anything' form around what happens if Hearts and Brighton qualify for Europe and get drawn against each other, does Tony Bloom's financial interest in both teams become problematic?

Bloom has expanded his football interests after making such a success of Brighton.

He now holds shares in Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts and Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise.

All three could qualify for the same European competition this season.

If Hearts or Union Saint-Gilloise secure a place in Champions League qualifying, that could threaten Brighton's place in Europe.

That is because the team in the higher-ranked European competition would get priority if Uefa were to find a breach of multi-club ownership (MCO) rules.

For instance, by losing in Champions League qualifying Hearts or Union SG could potentially drop into the same competition as Brighton.

MCO rules would not allow this and the Seagulls would not be admitted into the competition at all.

Bloom had to reduce his controlling stake in Union Saint-Gilloise below 30% before the 2023-24 Europa League season, as Brighton had also qualified.

When he bought into Hearts last year, Bloom clearly had this conflict in mind by purchasing 29% of the Edinburgh club.

Bloom will hope his house is already in order.

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Brighton will have big decisions to make on which players they will let go to "bigger clubs" this summer, says former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton, as Albion prepare for potential European football next season.

"I think Brighton are a club viewed from the outside where so-called 'bigger' clubs can come and poach their players," Sutton told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast.

"They are a selling club essentially. It's not what Brighton fans want but I think they understand the model.

"The concern from the outside is how long can Danny Welbeck go on for? Because he's had a phenomenal season so I don't think, for his sake, that Brighton fans want him to go the World Cup. They'll want him resting and recuperating and putting his feet up.

"But I suppose there are always decisions to be made at the end of every season in terms of bigger clubs coming in for players and who Brighton are prepared to let go for a certain fee."

Fabian Hurzeler's side currently hold a Europa League qualification spot, as they sit sixth in the Premier League, and Sutton believes the south coast outfit will need the numbers if they want to compete in all competitions next season.

"I think Newcastle are a good example," Sutton said.

"They are a squad that hasn't coped with Champions League football [this season] and that would be the worry.

"But if you're a Brighton supporter, that's the dream isn't it? Champions League football is what you want. There's always that worry in the back of a supporter's mind - 'is the squad big enough and strong enough to compete on the European front?'.

"People talk about the volume of games players already have to cope with anyway and I get that, but as a fan you want to be involved and have those journeys across Europe with your family and the memories."

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Manchester United do not want to get into a bidding war for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 23, who is also a target for Manchester City, and could turn to other targets such as Brighton's Cameroon international Carlos Baleba. (ESPN, external)

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We asked for your views on Brighton's chances of qualifying for European football this season, with just four fixtures left for Fabian Hurzeler's side to stake their claim.

Here are some of your thoughts:

Charlie: Who knows, only time will tell! I am confident though, as we have a good run-in and a good group of lads. The morale is high and we are playing beautiful football at this point in time. We can only hope and pray but I believe we can make it over the line.

David: We have a group of players who are capable of beating any Premier League team, plus three of our four remaining games are against teams below us in the table. The positive goal difference may well be worth an extra point too. So yes, we will qualify for Europe for next season.

Julian: Brighton have a propensity for drawing with teams they should be beating, if you look at our results against the bottom three. But, if they can beat Newcastle this Saturday, I am optimistic they will do enough to qualify for Europe at some level.

Daniel: I've been trying not to focus on the table but take it game-by-game, although, I'm starting to get excited now. I'm dreaming of us getting Champions League, if Aston Villa win the Europa League.

Andrew: I would be very pleased with qualifying for the Conference League. I've heard too many warnings recently that makes me think we would need to invest in the squad, so surely the Champions League would leave our finances on a knife-edge. There are several former Premier League teams in the lower leagues who tried to fly with the gods.

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Brighton and Hove Albion say their plans for Europe's first purpose-built women's football stadium, announced on Tuesday, will "provide a permanent home and identity for the women's team" in an attempt to drive long-term fan growth.

Located at Bennett's Field, a site adjacent to the Amex Stadium - the home of Brighton's Premier League side - and costing cost £75-80m, it will hold an initial capacity of 10,000 and will be connected to the Amex via a bridge walkway.

With work under way on a planning application, the club hope to officially open the stadium for the start of the 2030-31 season.

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Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Not only are ups and downs going to be happening at breakneck speed at the bottom of the table, don't be surprised if that happens into the final day with Arsenal and Man City slugging it out at the top.

It will happen in the race for the European places too.

When there are currently only four points between seven teams fighting for those spots, a one-point swing would be incredible but there will be bigger swings than that every week.

As we saw this weekend, everything can change in 10 minutes, making predictions futile.

But having said that, I reckon Brighton might just have enough to get to sixth. They have the momentum which is vital at this time.

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Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda, 27, has been added to the shortlist of attacking players wanted by Everton this summer, with Leeds, Tottenham and Brighton also showing interest in the Japan international. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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A new episode of BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast is now available to listen to and download on BBC Sounds.

Johnny Cantor talks can Brighton cope with European football as they strive for the Champions League, with former Premier League striker Chris Sutton joining the debate.

There is also a lookahead to Saturday's trip to St James' Park with the help of BBC Radio Newcastle's Matthew Raisbeck.

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Listen to every Brighton game live on BBC Radio Sussex, with all the build-up and full commentary with Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall, and there is a full preview of all Seagulls' matches on Fridays at 18:00 in The Weekend Warm-up