Player opens up on ‘very disappointing’ time at Brighton, experiencing ‘adversity’ and changing agent

Even though Mathias Normann was at Brighton & Hove Albion for 18 months, he failed to make his way into their first team.

In January 2019, the midfielder left the Seagulls and joined Russian side Rostov on a permanent deal. Two days ago, the 23-year-old admitted he didn’t regret exiting the Premier League club.

The midfielder sat down for an interview with Norway’s TV2 and gave an insight on his time with the English side.

“The time at Brighton was very disappointing. I experienced adversity in my career and was a bit stuck. I learned a lot about myself and spent many hours alone at home. But fortunately, Rostov got me back on the track,” he said.

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The Norwegian was then managed by Jim Solbakken and the latter urged his then client to be patient and continue at Brighton. However, the player had other plans, which is why he decided to part ways with his agent. He is currently managed by Imad El Hammichi.

“The reason was the agent I had was not willing to help me go to Rostov. I then just took another road,” Normann explained.

“He wanted me to be patient and work in Brighton. I was quite impatient at this point, but it turned out to be the right choice to go to Rostov. It is the best decision I have made in my career.”

Normann has been featuring regularly for Rostov and his performances has earned him a call up from Norway coach Lars Lagerbäck for the European qualifiers against Malta and Sweden.