One player each Premier League team should sign this summer

Brighton: Charles Marcelo da Silva

Brighton are about to spend their first season at the top of the English soccer pyramid since 1983. Their season in the Championship was thoroughly impressive, featuring an 18 match unbeaten streak and 20 clean sheets. This earned them automatic promotion and plenty of respect.

But just like that, it might be starting to fall apart. David Stockdale, the man in goal for the afore-mentioned clean sheets, looks like he’s going to leave out of frustration over his contract. He was a vital piece of the Seagulls’ promotion run.

Replacing Stockdale is a big priority, and Maritimo keeper Charles Marcelo da Silva ticks the boxes of a potential replacements. He’s young, cheap and has proven his effectiveness in the Portuguese league. While Stockdale’s stats are more impressive, he’s been playing behind a higher caliber defense.

Charles isn’t the strongest goalkeeper in the world, but he’s well suited to the level Brighton will be playing at. They’ll almost certainly have to adopt a defense-heavy approach next year while they struggle to stay out of relegation, and Charles’ shot-stopping abilities should prove valuable. Adding defensive players is Brighton’s best transfer window strategy, because that’s the stance they’ll be playing most of their games in.

Charles is a risk, without question. Teams like Brighton have little choice but to take risks. Playing it safe could well mean bouncing back down to the Championship next year.