The Championship’s best crosser moves up
Brighton chased Femi Azeez for months and closed the deal on transfer deadline day. The reported fee starts at 12.5 million pounds and rises to 15 million.
Azeez spent the past two seasons at Millwall building a case that the Championship could no longer hold him. He led the division last season for open-play crosses with 227 and for expected assists from crosses with 6.71. Nobody in the second tier delivered more dangerous balls into the box.
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Volume, and quality behind it
The crossing headline undersells the rest of his game. Azeez ranked fourth in the Championship for dribble attempts with 131, ninth for shots with 95, and sixth for chances created from open play with 58.
He manufactured quality as well as quantity. Only two players in the division created more big chances than his 18, and he finished fourth overall for expected assists with 9.12.
That last figure carries a warning and an opportunity. Azeez ended the campaign with seven assists against 9.12 expected assists, which means teammates missed openings he had built for them. Drop him alongside sharper finishers and the raw assist column should climb without him changing anything.
Brighton buy young, again
Brighton have made a habit of raiding the Championship and the continent for players in their early twenties, then moving them on at a profit once the ceiling becomes visible. Azeez lands as a quick, versatile midfielder who operates at the sharp end of the pitch, and he joins a club whose system runs on exactly that kind of mobility.
He was one of two Brighton arrivals on deadline day, alongside Stuttgart midfielder Chema Andres. The Seagulls shut their window with a squad younger and deeper than the one they opened it with.
The jump from Millwall to the Premier League is steep and plenty of players have failed it. Azeez has the numbers. He now needs the run of top-flight football that turns them into evidence.
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