Brighton players and staff rewarded with 20% bonus after securing top-seven finish

Brighton & Hove Albion have rewarded their staff with a 20% bonus after they qualified for Europe, reports The Times.

The Seagulls will be playing continental football for the first time in their history in 2023-24.

They secured their 18th Premier League victory of the season with a 3-1 win over Southampton on Sunday.

Brighton will qualify for the Europa League or Europa Conference League depending on their next two results.

Club owner Tony Bloom will hand the around 1,000 staff and casual workers a 20% one-off annual salary bonus for the incredible campaign.

They were ninth last season under Graham Potter but will achieve their highest Premier League finish this term.

Roberto De Zerbi’s face title winners Manchester City on Wednesday before a six-pointer against Aston Villa on the last day of the campaign on Sunday.

Brighton will either finish fifth or sixth, and Villa will need to score plenty of goals for them to drop to seventh.

The Seagulls have already secured the signing of Brazilian forward Joao Pedro and will need to make more quality additions this summer.

They are preparing for the possibility of losing Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister, and De Zerbi wants quality replacements.

Adding European fixtures and travels to their busy domestic schedule will stretch their squad.

Brighton must get it right in the upcoming transfer window if they want to impress next season.

They do not have the cash to compete against the big clubs in the transfer market, but some smart recruitment can help them cope.