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Brighton and Leeds come into Matchday 3 of the Premier League season with the potential for changes after busy ends to the summer transfer window. The Seagulls concluded their business by making two significant signings on deadline day, with midfielder Chema Andrés and winger Femi Azeez arriving on the south coast. Daniel Farke’s side got more of their business done early, but with the late loan signings of French pair Melvin Bard and Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, they have topped up a squad targeting European qualification. With new faces aplenty expected at the Amex Stadium this weekend, it marks a step into the unknown for both teams. “They’re great people” After a rollercoaster of a transfer window, Brighton emerged with resounding positivity on the morning of September 2nd. The scars of losing Danny Welbeck, Jan Paul van Hecke and Carlos Baleba were cast aside, with their replacements Promise David, Luka Vušković and new man Andrés arriving with glimmering potential. Azeez, meanwhile, tops up the club’s all-important homegrown quota and offers depth in wide positions while Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh remain injured. Just a week after head coach Fabian Hürzeler reflected on the acquisitions of David and Jaouen Hadjam, the German now praised his latest pair of signings ahead of Leeds’ visit. “First of all, they're great people, and have great character, so that's the most important [thing] for us as a club,” said Hürzeler. “I think Chema brings a clear position profile on the six. He's very good at understanding the game. He's always trying to play forward. He's good at scanning, so he’s had a good education. He's very, very technical. Therefore, it's definitely a good addition for us. “Femi, he can score with the right and the left foot. He has really good decision-making in the final third. He's a hard worker. “I'm really pleased with the transfer window. Of course, a lot of changes. Now it's on us to integrate all the new players as quickly as possible and become a really strong unit. That's our responsibility now.” “The involvement from my side is huge” In an age of technical directors heading up transfer business, the assumption is that head coaches have an increasingly small impact on which players are brought to their clubs. Recent club interviews with new signings Andrés, Azeez and others suggest, however, that their conversations with Hürzeler were a big factor in convincing them to join. The German confirmed that once the hard work of a deal is done with other clubs, these personal discussions mean he is fully involved. “Of course, we have this 'best recruitment system in the world', and Tony [Bloom, chairman] has built it in a very impressive way. That's always the foundation of this club, and this will always be the identity of this club,” said the 33-year-old. “The next step is always understanding: how does this player fit into our style of play? How does this player fit into our culture, into the environment here, and how do his personality and character fit into our environment? Then, the next step, if we figured out all these things, is about getting in touch with the player. “We are convinced of him, so how do we convince him of our club? It's not like we pick this player and we’re the only club interested in him. It’s about giving the player an understanding of why we want him, where we want to improve him and why we think Brighton is a good fit for him. “Therefore, the involvement from my side is huge. I always emphasise how transparent the communications and the exchanges are with Tony, with Paul [Barber, CEO], with Mike [Cave, sporting director]. There's quite a strong relationship. “There's a very transparent relationship, and that's something that I really appreciate. We work really well together, and therefore I think this process that we have is very well structured, very well organised and a huge benefit for this club to get good players in.” “We know how important set-pieces are” Following Andrés’ move to Sussex, Opta published a statistic that the Spaniard won the most aerial duels per 90 minutes of anyone in the Bundesliga to play more than 1,000 minutes last season. The 21-year-old’s 3.6 successful aerial duels per 90 paints a favourable comparison with Premier League players last season too, with his figure amongst the league's leaders and exceeding that of Brighton’s best for the same statistic - van Hecke (2.97). Alongside a raft of rangy signings this summer, with Vušković, David, Pascal Struijk, and Michael Svoboda joining Lewis Dunk as the club’s only other players above 1.9 metres tall, there is evidence of a recruitment rethink happening at the club. Despite this, Hürzeler was keen to emphasise that height is not a be-all and end-all. “It's not like the first priority is that a player has to be tall, but we definitely want to focus on physicality,” said Hürzeler. “[The Premier League] gets more physical, and getting more physical doesn't mean that you have to be fast, or you have to be like a sprinter. But physical means, in some way, that you can be very competitive in personal duels, and you can win your personal duels because of your height, because of being aggressive, having good acceleration, good deceleration, or just being physically strong. “Being physical doesn't always come back to, ‘Oh, he's so big and so tall. That's why he's physical.’ “There are different ways of being physical and being competitive in the Premier League, and that's why I think that's also a point where we want to improve. “We know how important set-pieces are, and we experienced it last season that set pieces can win you big things. So it's definitely also a thing where we need to adjust and adapt. But it's also not the main priority for us.”