Pascal Gross has been at Brighton & Hove Albion for the better part of nine years, and at 35, he is still outperforming almost everyone around him. Named Premier League player of the month for September, the German midfielder is now forcing a serious conversation: could he be the greatest value-for-money signing in the division's history?

The numbers make a compelling case. Gross cost Brighton a reported £3m when he arrived from Ingolstadt in 2017 — the club's first Premier League signing after earning promotion. He departed for his boyhood club Borussia Dortmund in 2024 for £8m, and returned to the Amex in January for approximately £1.7m. Net of those transactions, he has effectively cost the Seagulls minus £3m.

A record built over nearly a decade

Since joining Brighton, Gross has been involved in 85 Premier League goals across his two spells. This season alone, he has contributed six goal involvements in five games — more than any other player in the top flight. He has also created 15 Premier League chances this season, again the highest of any player, helping Brighton climb to third in the table.

Over his time in the Premier League, only Bruno Fernandes, Kevin de Bruyne, and Mohamed Salah have created more chances than his 562 — and that total includes the 18 months he spent away at Borussia Dortmund. His 51 assists place him seventh all-time for the competition, alongside 34 goals in 252 appearances. No player has delivered more successful crosses and corners — 483 — in that period, surpassing even Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Ward-Prowse, who both attempted more.

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