“Defence wins championships” is a phrase used regularly by Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler.Maintaining a solid base will be tested by the sale of Jan Paul van Hecke to Tottenham Hotspur as Brighton undergo a squad reset in the centre of defence for a second successive summer.Van Hecke’s move ends a partnership with long-serving skipper Lewis Dunk that Hurzeler had relied upon throughout the first two seasons of his reign. They featured together in nearly 70 per cent of Premier League games under the German (52 out of 76).Van Hecke and Dunk were the bedrock of consecutive eighth-placed finishes. Only champions Arsenal (27) and runners-up Manchester City (35) conceded fewer than Brighton’s 46 goals in 2025-26. Their domination meant few opportunities for Olivier Boscagli and Diego Coppola, two arrivals last summer.The rebuild will be different this time without Van Hecke, especially with the additional fixtures in the Conference League, which increases the likelihood of rotation. New signings Luka Vuskovic, Pascal Struijk and Michael Svoboda will all be fighting for game time.Van Hecke’s departure continues a familiar pattern of at least one major summer sale as part of Brighton’s model of buying low, developing, and selling high. Fair value was achieved for the Netherlands international, who would have been out of contract in 2027 and had shown no appetite to agree a new deal. The £52million ($69m) fee is another healthy profit — Van Hecke was signed from NAC Breda for £1.8m in 2020.Jan Paul van Hecke celebrates Brighton’s 1-0 win against Sunderland in March (George Wood/Getty Images)Van Hecke is the club’s biggest centre-back sale, eclipsing the £50m received from Arsenal in 2021 for Ben White (who has since played more regularly at right-back). It is the fourth-highest cash injection across all positions, behind Moises Caicedo (£115m), Marc Cucurella (£63m) and Joao Pedro (£60m).But while this summer’s big-money departure is in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from Brighton, the incomings are different from the norm. Brighton do not usually spend anywhere near as big on young players as the club record £46m outlay on Vuskovic, whose arrival is due to be confirmed by the club shortly. They have made an exception for an exceptional talent, one of the brightest centre-back prospects in world football.Vuskovic only turned 19 in February, but he has already made six senior caps, including in Croatia’s 4-2 defeat against England in their World Cup opener. Vuskovic, who is 6ft 4in (193cm), had an impressive loan spell with Hamburg in the Bundesliga last season, scoring six goals in 28 league appearances ranging from towering headers to a clever backheel flick.