Brighton's forgotten £10m star left behind as De Zerbi's squad travel to United States

Brighton midfielder Jakub Moder was not among the Brighton squad that travelled to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series.

Brighton kick-off the pre-season tournament against Chelsea on Saturday, July 22 at the Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, July 26 they take on Thomas Frank's Brentford at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta before concluding the east coast trip on Friday July 28 as they face Newcastle United at the Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey.

Brighton announced their squad for the trip and there was no place for Poland international Jakub Moder who has missed more than a year of football with an ACL injury sustained against Norwich back in April 2022. It was hoped the midfielder would be fit for the start of this campaign as he trained with the first team group towards the end of last season.

It is thought the 24-year-old – who arrived from Lech Poznań in 2020 for around £20m – will remain at the training ground in Lancing and continue his rehabilitation work. It's a blow for head coach Roberto De Zerbi as he assesses his midfield options having lost Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool earlier this summer.

Moises Caicedo, who is linked with a move to Chelsea, travels with the squad and could line-up against Mauricio Pochettino’s team this weekend. Goalkeeper Rob Sanchez, who lost his spot in the team to Jason Steele last season, was not named for the pre-season trip.

Squad: Goalkeepers: T McGill, C Rushworth, J Steele, B Verbruggen. Defenders: L Dunk, P Estupinan, T Lamptey, JP Van Hecke, I Samuels, E Turns, J Veltman, A Webster. Midfielders: S Alzate, Y Ayari, B Baker-Boaitey, F Buonanotte, M Caicedo, M Dahoud, B Gilmour, P Gross, J Hinshelwood, A Lallana, S March, J Milner, K Mitoma, C Peupion, J Weir. Forwards: S Adingra, J Enciso, E Ferguson, J Pedro, D Undav, D Welbeck