Chris Hughton led Brighton and Hove Albion to an impressive 15th-place finish in their first-ever Premier League season, and he will be determined to progress and will be aiming even higher next term.

While the Seagulls ended the 2017/18 campaign seven points above the relegation zone, they were also only nine points adrift of eighth-place Everton, and the south coast outfit should be confident of bridging that gap if they can bring the right players to the Amex Stadium before the transfer window slams shut on August 9th.

Hughton, whose £5m move for Paddy McNair should be hijacked by one of their top flight rivals, has already got his summer business underway following the arrival of Florin Andone from Deportivo La Coruna and Leon Balogun from Mainz upon the expiry of his contract with the German club.

The 59-year-old boss has enjoyed good success with players from the Bundesliga – just look at how well Pascal Gross did last season – and while Germany is likely to be a target for new faces once again, the former Newcastle United and Norwich City gaffer will be searching Europe-wide for the right additions.

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While Brighton have both Bruno Saltor and Ezequiel Schelotto who can play at right-back, the Seagulls may well need a new player in that position this summer given the former is 37 years of age, and the latter often appears to be more comfortable from an attacking point of view than defensively.

Signing West Ham outcast Byram could be the answer, with the 24-year-old surely on his way out of the London Stadium after the Irons signed Ryan Fredericks on Tuesday.

The former Leeds United man has never really had the opportunity to stake a claim for a regular starting XI spot for a number of different reasons, but if he could get the form back he showed for the Yorkshire outfit previously he would be a great addition for the Seagulls.

Brighton reaped great success from the signing of Pascal Gross from the Bundesliga last summer, and they should look to repeat the trick with Wolfsburg's Guivalogui this time around.

The strong defensive midfielder enjoyed an impressive 2017/18 campaign for the German side, the 27-year-old highlighting his good work in his team's defensive third by making 66 interceptions and winning 65 tackles, while he will suit Hughton's style of play too seeing as he had a passing accuracy of 85.2%, all as per WhoScored.com.

The 6ft 2in Frenchman would certainly bring some more steel to this Seagulls' side, and provide protection for the likes of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk at the heart of the backline.

Brighton may have the likes of Glenn Murray, Tomer Hemed, Sam Baldock, Jurgen Locadia and new boy Andone in their ranks, but you can't help but feel that if they added a quality centre-forward they would make real progress next season.

Step forward Nils Petersen – a Germany international who made his nation's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup, but eventually missed out on the final 23-man selection.

Nevertheless, the 6ft 2in tall Freiburg striker enjoyed a brilliant 2017/18 campaign with 15 goals in 32 Bundesliga outings, while he also showed his leadership skills by captaining his team on a number of occasions too.

Do you agree, Brighton fans? Let us know below.