'I worked at Everton with instrumental figure key to Brighton's stunning transfers'
That is according to experienced former Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The 56-year-old, who left the Seagulls in 2025 to become Strasbourg's sporting director, played a key role in the arrivals of several stars who would later depart for big money.
Brighton were promoted to the Premier League in 2017 and have established themselves as a mainstay, qualifying for the Conference League last season when they finished eighth for a second consecutive campaign.
Fabian Hurzeler's side have started the new season in superb form, too, and beat Coventry City 5-0 on Sunday.
The likes of Malick Yalcouye and Yasin Ayari are already hugely impressing, with the Brighton production line for talent showing no sign of stopping.
David Weir helped Brighton make 'a lot of money'
Unfortunately, for a club like Brighton, selling on the players you develop is a key part of the process.
The Seagulls have made an absurd amount of money selling their brightest talents over the years, but the success comes in the fact that they are always able to replace them.
"I can tell you when things started to get organised, was when they brought in a guy called David Weir," King told Football Insider.
"Now, I worked with David at Everton. A very experienced professional footballer. Played for Scotland, played for Everton. Came from a small club, Falkirk, up in Scotland. And I think he went to Hearts.
"He came to Everton and was a very, very good player. And I worked with David for a little bit on the scouting while he was there, before he left. And initially, he left to go to Brighton.
"He was made head of scouting and also head as a technical director. And he was very instrumental in bringing in the players that made them a lot of money.
"I mean, [Marc] Cucurella, [Moises] Caicedo, [Robert] Sanchez. They all went to Chelsea for big, big money, didn't they? I think it's over £300million there. Just Chelsea.
"Obviously, things have changed. David Weir's moved on. They use a company called Jamestown Analytics, which is a part of the owner, Tony Bloom. It's a part of his company."
Brighton's record sales
Caicedo is the most expensive sale in Brighton history, completing a £115m move to Chelsea in 2023.
The Seagulls had paid just £4m to sign him only two years earlier, making an absurd profit via some superb scouting.
Caicedo's replacement in 2023, Carlos Baleba, became another big-money departure this summer when he joined Manchester United for £70m.
With several new Brighton stars catching the eye already this season, it is only a matter of time before the next huge sale takes place.