Brighton have completed the signing of highly rated left-winger Leandro Trossard for a fee of around £18 million. The 24 year old was prolific in Belgium last season for Genk, scoring 22 goals in all competitions, helping them win the Belgian First Division.
Trossard leaves behind the opportunity of Champions League football in order to play in the Premier League. Brighton manager Graham Potter is delighted to have captured the attacking player:
“We are delighted to welcome Leandro to the club and excited about the impact he can have for us”
Trossard joins a long list of high profile players who have made the move to the Premier League having come through the ranks at Genk – Christian Benteke, Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne to name a few.
Player History
Trossard started his career as a senior player a Genk in May 2012, by January 2013 he had been loaned out to Lommel United to get some first team football. Trossard then spent the next three seasons out on loan at Belgian clubs gaining experience, and keeping a good goal scoring record of around a goal every third game.
Trossard returned to Genk for the 2016/17 season but failed make much of an impact until the end of the following season, as he picked up an injury that meant he missed a large part of the 2017/18. Towards the end of the 2017/18 season Trossard began to establish himself as a first team player.
2018/19 was a breakout year for Trossard as he scored 22 goals, claimed 11 assists and was also given the captains arm band towards the end of the season as he lead the side to the title.
Trossard has represented the Belgian national side at all levels from U16s to U21s, he is yet to be selected for the senior side.
Fantasy Football Potential
Trossard has been priced at £6.0m for the season, which for a player capable of scoring a lot goals and creating chances this could prove to be a bargain. He was the penalty taker at Genk, so it remains to be seen whether he was take on this duty at Brighton. If he does it will add to his appeal even more.
It is possible that Trossard will form a partnership with Glenn Murray, who remains one of the most lethal finishers in the league when presented with the opportunities.
Players who come over from abroad always come with an element of risk as to how they are going to perform in the more competitive and physical Premier League. If Trossard can hit the ground running and score goals he will be an absolute gem at £6.0m. Brighton have a fairly good run of fixtures for the first three games of the season, before they bump into Manchester City on gameweek 4. If Trossard appears to have settled in well during pre-season games and even takes on penalty duty, I feel that he is well worth taking a chance on as relatively low priced midfielder with the capability of producing goals and assists.
Written by Will Gosling (@_WG5)
