Mike Cave details Brighton recruitment and loan development strategy

Brighton sporting director Mike Cave says the club's recruitment process combines performance analysis with assessments of a player's character and suitability, rather than relying on a single statistic. In an interview published by BBC Sport on Thursday, he described how Brighton identify young talent and prepare recruits for first-team football.

Cave said loans and the under-21 programme offer routes for players who are not yet ready for the Premier League. BBC Sport reported that Brighton arranged 27 loans last season and sent 16 players out this summer. Cave cited Malick Yalcouye and Ibrahim Osman as examples of players returning from loans to join the senior squad.

He also told the BBC that recruitment begins with developing players for Brighton, not planning their eventual sale. Helping new arrivals and their families settle into the city is central to that process, he said. When players do leave, the aim is to secure proceeds that can be reinvested in the squad.

Cave's comments follow a change in Brighton's sporting leadership earlier this year. The club announced Jason Ayto's departure on 3 June and placed Cave, then technical director, in charge of its sporting departments. Brighton said he would work with the existing senior team and report to chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber.

Brighton confirmed Cave's permanent appointment as sporting director on 6 July. In that announcement, Barber highlighted his growing responsibilities and knowledge of the club's sporting operations. Cave had initially joined in November 2022 as assistant technical director, reporting to David Weir, before progressing through the organisation to his current post.

The club's account of his career also detailed a background in youth development. After studying sports science and sports management at Loughborough University, Cave spent six years at IMG in consulting and media sales. He joined Fulham in 2014 as academy performance manager, having also coached part-time, and became the London club's academy director in August 2021 before moving to Brighton.