A replacement who plays nothing like the player he replaces
Carlos Baleba left for Manchester United this summer and Brighton spent the rest of the window looking for a body at the base of their midfield. They found one on deadline day: Chema Andres, a 21-year-old Spaniard signed from Stuttgart for a reported 20 million pounds.
The two players share a position and very little else. Baleba won the ball through acceleration and recovery running. Chema does it through anticipation and positioning, and the numbers make the distinction plain. Since the start of last season, among Bundesliga midfielders with at least 900 minutes played, only one player averaged more interceptions per 90 than his 2.3.
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Real Madrid academy, one Bundesliga season
Chema came through Real Madrid’s academy before joining Stuttgart last summer, which makes this a two-year journey from the Spanish capital to the Amex. He was in and out of the Stuttgart side across that single Bundesliga campaign, never nailing down a starting berth, and yet the underlying output held up.
Within that same group of Bundesliga midfielders, nobody contested more aerial duels than his 6.4 per 90, and nobody won more of them either at 3.6. He ranked 10th for possession regains with 5.6 per 90. For a 21-year-old still filling out physically, those are unusual figures to post in a first season abroad.
The Rodri comparisons that follow him around are premature and a little unfair. Chema does not shape a game in possession the way the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner does. He is tidy on the ball rather than dominant with it, and his value sits on the other side of the game.
What Brighton are betting on
Brighton’s recruitment follows a pattern, and it rarely involves paying for finished products. They buy players in their early twenties whose profile fits a system, then wait for the projection to land. Chema fits that template so neatly it could have been written for him.
He will not replace Baleba’s explosiveness, and Brighton know it. What they get instead is protection in front of the defence, a reading of the game that already runs ahead of his age, and a physical base that should only thicken. The Spaniard arrives with 20 million pounds of expectation and one incomplete Bundesliga season of evidence behind him.
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