Brighton and Hove Albion’s latest signing Mats Wieffer is twice as good as Declan Rice, and the Seagulls may have secured themselves a bargain.
That’s according to television presenter Hans Kraay Junior, who believes the new Brighton man is already better than the Arsenal star.
Wieffer joined Brighton in a €30m deal from Feyenoord earlier this month, becoming the latest in what has already been a busy summer already for the Seagulls, who appear keen to spend and strengthen for new manager Fabian Hürzeler.
The midfielder is arriving with a big reputation from the Netherlands, where he had established himself as a key player since joining from Excelsior in July 2022.
That had not gone unnoticed around Europe, and he was heavily linked with a move to Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window, which, of course, never turned into anything concrete.
All of the comments regarding him since the move to Brighton was announced have been regarding his ability, and some believing he may have been able to secure a bigger club had he waited this summer.
He didn’t but Hans Kraay Junior has now continued along that line, insisting that the midfielder is already better than Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
“I’m still in contact with the newspapers there, we called them about four weeks ago,” he said.
“I said they could take him blind; the central defender can play all the balls to him. His first touch is great. He is a wonderful player.
“They called me again: ‘You have already told us three times that he is such a good player, but that is not true.
“You can’t be a good player for €30m. They just think that’s a tip there. €116m for Rice? Wieffer is twice as good.”
