Verbruggen's Brighton form draws top clubs, but he stays focused

Bart Verbruggen is enjoying a strong season at Brighton & Hove Albion, where the club has conceded only seven goals this season, and he has become an important link, while he is already being cautiously linked to top clubs, but he does not want the future to cast a shadow over the present.

The 24‑year‑old Dutch international has developed into an indispensable player in the English club’s lineup.

He is now a regular fixture in the Netherlands national team.

The 24‑year‑old goalkeeper has now earned 38 caps.

‘It would be a waste to ruin it by constantly thinking about the future in my head’, Verbruggen tells in an interview with de Volkskrant.

Netherlands dominates Greece and moves closer to the quarter-finals

‘In the team we say: the more clean sheets we have, the more often we win. It is no coincidence that we stay without conceding goals, if you look at how we defend, with our principles’, says Verbruggen.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s strong start gives the club a provisional second place.

On Friday, the Netherlands kept a clean sheet for the first time this calendar year against Greece, with a 7‑0 victory.

‘Every goal conceded is unpleasant, and ultimately you try to prevent that as a team. You can’t look at the goalkeeper and say: you’re so good, because you have many clean sheets. That makes no sense. Because if the team does not play well, it is impossible to keep a clean sheet’, explains Verbruggen.

‘I hope you see growth when you look at matches from three years ago and now, and that you see it again in four years. I feel comfortable in all aspects of the game and am ready for any situation a match can present’, he adds.