Brighton & Hove Albion’s tactic of selling top players during the summer transfer window and continuing to thrive shows no sign of stalling.No Jan Paul van Hecke, Danny Welbeck, Carlos Baleba or Yankuba Minteh? No problem. Aston Villa were thrashed 4-0 at the Amex Stadium in the opening Premier League fixture of the new campaign for Fabian Hurzeler’s side — without four of the players that helped them finish eighth in the table last season to qualify for the Conference League.Centre-back Van Hecke joined Tottenham for £52million. Evergreen forward Welbeck, 35, top scorer last season with 13 league goals, moved to Chelsea. Midfielder Baleba is on the brink of completing a switch to Manchester United in a deal worth up to £70million as he recovers from ankle ligament damage. As things stand, bids of £50m and £60m from Liverpool have been rejected for winger Minteh, who is ruled out until October after surgery on a right leg injury.The outgoing business so far this summer, even by Brighton’s standards, has been radical. In 2023, they sold midfield pair Moises Caicedo to Chelsea for a package worth £115m and Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool for around £45m. They reached the last 16 of the Europa League and still finished 11th under former head coach Roberto De Zerbi.In 2024, Hurzeler’s first summer window after replacing De Zerbi, the imbalance created by big sales was addressed with nine new signings in finishing eighth under the German. Normal service was resumed with the £60m exit last summer of Brazilian striker Joao Pedro — their leading goalscorer at the time — to Chelsea.There has been an unprecedented scale of churn this summer, with the probability of more deals before the window shuts on September 1. There have been 15 departures, permanently or on loan, and seven new faces. It has been a hectic baptism for sporting director Mike Cave, who was promoted to succeed his former boss Jason Ayto shortly before the window opened in June.