Brighton and Hove Albion striker Deniz Undav has insisted he is not thinking about a return to Belgium this summer despite a difficult first season at the club.
The forward has been speaking to Sporza after a weekend in which he finally broke his Premier League duck after joining Brighton in the summer.
The 26-year-old moved from sister club Union SG in the summer transfer window after initially agreeing a €7m deal in January last year after an impressive year in Belgium when he managed 27 goals and 13 assists in 41 games in all competitions.
He has struggled to replicate that at Brighton, going 14 Premier League games without a goal before his strike in the demolition of Wolves over the weekend.
So far this season he’s managed just five goals and one assist in 23 games in all competitions, a far cry from the success rate he had enjoyed in Belgium. A return to the Jupiler Pro League is not on the cards, though.
“Whether I am fitter than last year at Union? Yes. Whether I’m thinking about returning to Belgium? No,” he said when asked on the subject.
The Seagulls have been arguably one of the best sides in the Premier League this season, shining under Roberto de Zerbi after he arrived to replace Graham Potter.
They’re currently 8th in the table and just two points behind sixth placed Tottenham and four behind fifth placed Liverpool, meaning they’re very much in the fight for European football next season.
They’ve gotten to that point by playing an attractive and thrilling brand of football, something Joos admits he would happily pay to watch.
“He looks much sharper than with Union,” he said on Undav.
“It is not that Undav was overweight then, but I mainly remember him as a weighing striker. Now he can also dominate in other ways.
“He is the prototype of a player who ends up at a Belgian top club after a disappointing season. You can’t get him as a back-up, that much is clear. But with a team like Club Brugge, where he is immediately the first striker, I still see him fit.”
“Brighton are the team of the year for me. They are on a level with City in terms of football, but do so with a much more modest budget.
“If I took out a season ticket with one club, it would be Brighton. As a supporter, there is always something to do.”
