Ibrahim Osman officially completed a £16m move to Brighton and Hove Albion from FC Nordsjaelland on July 1, 2024.
However, the deal was initially agreed between the clubs in February, making the winger a slightly forgotten man heading into the summer window.
Albion fans got a first look at the Ghanaian in pre-season, where he started both fixtures during the Japan tour.
Osman also played 30 minutes when Brighton returned to England to face Queens Park Rangers.
A week later, he was named as an unused substitute against Villarreal.
Following his performances in pre-season, the decision was made to send him out on loan to Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie.
The Seagulls have a history with players from FC Nordsjaelland, particularly Simon Adingra.
So, can Osman replicate what Adingra has done? And what will he bring to the club when he returns? VAVEL explores those questions here.
- His club career so far
Osman began his career in his home country at the Right to Dream academy.
On January 1, 2023, he made a free transfer move to FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark. This is a very common move that has been made in recent transfer windows.
Following his arrival, Osman made multiple appearances for the U19s, reserves, and first-team during the 2022/23 season.
The now 19-year-old made three appearances for the U19s side, where he played 219 minutes, scoring two goals and picking up one assist.
His first goal came in a 4-2 victory against Sönderjyske U19, and his second came in a 5-0 win over Silkeborg U19.
Osman also made two appearances for the reserve side, where he played 154 minutes in the prestigious Future Cup.
During his just under two hours of football, he scored one goal which came in a 2-1 victory over AGF reserves, en route to Nordsjaelland’s first Future Cup title.
However, the bulk of his games in his first season in Denmark came for the first team.
He made his senior debut on February 24, 2023, in a Superliga fixture against Odense BK.
Osman then went on to play another nine games – totalling 329 minutes – across three different competitions.
In total, he played three games in the Superliga Championship round, four games in the Danish Cup – also called the Pokalen – and one game in the Superliga’s regular season.
Interestingly, he did not register a single goal contribution in any of these games.
Heading into the 2023/24 season, Osman became an important player for the Danish side.
Across the entirety of last season, he made 44 appearances and played a total of 2,870 minutes.
That is a drastic change from the previous season.
His output also dramatically improved. In his 44 games, he scored 10 goals and provided eight assists. Two of his goals also came in the Europa Conference League against FCSB and Ludogorets.
His performances and statistics heading into the 2024 winter transfer window made him an extremely appealing target for many bigger European clubs.
West Ham United were reportedly close to striking a deal late on January’s transfer deadline day.
Ultimately, a problem with Osman’s agents meant the potential deal did not go through; leaving the door wide open for Tony Bloom to sweep in and acquire the youngster in February.
Osman remained at FC Nordsjaelland for the rest of the season before officially joining Brighton at the beginning of July.
Upon the arrival of new manager Fabian Hürzeler, he was given a chance to impress in pre-season. Many Albion supporters thought he would have a part to play this season, but his game time would have been seriously restricted with the current attacking options in the squad.
Two days before the opening Premier League game against Everton, he was sent out on loan to Feyenoord, where he has so far made eight appearances.
In his recent start against Go Ahead Eagles, he picked up his first goal contributions of the season, providing two assists and scoring a fabulous solo goal.
The next section of his profile would usually be his international career so far. However, he has only made two appearances for Ghana in which he has played two minutes, so this is still a formative area of his career.
- What will he bring to Brighton?
Osman is an extremely raw talent at the moment.
He has only been in and around the professional leagues for a couple of seasons which makes it hard to specifically pinpoint his best attributes and his potential.
In terms of his style, though, he looks to be a similar breed of player as Marcus Rashford.
He is quick and powerful on the ball and able to play anywhere across the front line.
Hürzeler’s early spell at Brighton has suggested that he likes quick and direct wingers who work hard for the team in all areas of the pitch.
Osman’s strengths make him a great candidate for one of these roles next season.
He has a lot of flair, is ridiculously fast, is an amazing dribbler, is great off the ball, and has top-level anticipation.
These attributes are there to see when watching him play.
At 5’9″, the biggest weakness of his game is aerial duels. But that should not have a huge impact on how he may be expected to play.
Hürzeler puts a big focus on togetherness and working as a team, and that is something that Osman has in abundance.
The winger is a player to keep an eye on in the coming months, and he could have a role to play at The Amex next season.
- Where will he fit into the squad?
Wide areas are not a position that Brighton are lacking in this season. So, it is not surprising that the 19-year-old was sent out on loan this season.
As previously mentioned, if Osman had been kept in the squad this season, his game time would likely have been restricted by the likes of Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh, Brajan Gruda, and Adingra.
The long-awaited return of Solly March would have also likely pushed Osman down the pecking order.
Osman is another player who has played in four different positions in his career so far.
This is interesting as prior to last weekend’s Premier League fixture against Wolves, Hürzeler said that he prefers “that one player plays consistently in one position.”
But for Osman, there does not look to be an outright favoured position.
The forward has played one game as a right midfielder, but Albion‘s current system does night include a wide midfielder so it seems unlikely we will see him used there anytime soon.
Osman has also played 12 games as a centre-forward and has extremely impressive statistics when played here.
Five goals and three assists are not too shabby for someone who is considered to be very raw.
The form of Danny Welbeck, talent of Evan Ferguson and return of João Pedro make it seem unlikely we will see Osman played up top.
But it is certainly something to watch out for.
Most of his games, however, have come on either wing. Only three appearances separate the two positions.
He has played 18 games as a right winger, scoring three and assisting three. His return is not great when playing here so it is very unlikely he will be the first choice in this position, especially with Minteh and Gruda already being a season ahead of him.
On the left wing, he has played 21 games and scored five goals while providing four assists.
Brighton already have two great left wingers in Mitoma and Adingra, but if one does depart then it is likely this is where we will see Osman used next season.
On Saturday 2nd November,2024, the Ghanaian international climbed the bench to score in Feyenoord‘s brilliant comeback win against AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Another loan cannot be ruled out though.
If Osman continues to gradually develop with Feyenoord and shows the world what he can do, then he is another player that could give Hürzeler a selection headache come next season.
Culled from vavel.com
