TA: Brighton wants to upgrade his defense line and pursue Verona defender this summer

The Athletic reported that Brighton is trying to sign Verona defender Diego Kubola. The club hopes to include the 21-year-old in Hulzer's roster as part of the backline renewal plan. Kubola made his adult national team debut in the World Cup qualifiers in Italy with 0-3 loss to Norway. He won the first call for outgoing coach Spalletti for his performance in Verona this season.

This 1.93-meter-high defender comes from Verona's youth training system and is known for his focus on defense. In the 2024-25 season, he scored 2 goals 34 times, helping the team to finish 14th in Serie A. He has two years left on his contract with Verona.

The transformation of Brighton's aging defense line is accelerating. In addition to Kubola, the club has also finalized a deal to sign 27-year-old French defender Olivier Boscali from Eindhoven. The long-term target player will officially join after his contract with the Dutch club expires on July 1.

Brighton's signings this summer may not be as strong as last year, but there are still many deals worth paying attention to. Before Boscali arrived, the team had already spent £9 million in January to sign 23-year-old Elland Casin from the Championship Derby County. And the old captain Lewis Dunk will turn 34 in November.

The captain, who has played for many years, missed 13 league games this season due to injury, more than the total number of games missing in the previous two seasons. Webster, 30, also suffered from injury problems and played in only 22 of the 38 league rounds.

Player of the season Van Heck is the only stable choice for coach Helzeller's defense. Brazilian defender Igor Julio made a comeback in the final match of a 4-1 victory over Tottenham at the end of last month after being absent for more than four months due to a hamstring injury. In the end, Brighton ranked eighth and unfortunately missed the qualification for the European war.