VfB Stuttgart have received a significant late offer from Brighton & Hove Albion for midfielder Chema Andrés, forcing the Swabians into an unexpected deadline-day decision. According to Kicker, the Premier League club have submitted a bid worth more than €20m for the 21-year-old Spanish midfielder.
Whether Stuttgart are prepared to entertain such an offer so close to the transfer deadline remains unclear. The proposal nevertheless represents an extraordinary potential return on a player Stuttgart acquired from Real Madrid for approximately €3m only last summer.
Get German Football News covered Andrés’ €3m arrival from the Spanish giants in July 2025, when Real protected themselves with both a buyback provision and an unusually large 50 percent resale clause. Those protections reflected the midfielder’s potential. Andrés required very little time to begin fulfilling it.
Chema Andrés became a Stuttgart regular in his first season
The Real Madrid academy product rapidly worked his way into Sebastian Hoeneß’ midfield hierarchy during his first Bundesliga campaign. After initially arriving as a developmental option, Andrés scored his first Bundesliga goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach and soon earned starts ahead of club captain Atakan Karazor. Overall, Andrés made 39 competitive appearances across all competitions last season.
GGFN’s early-season Stuttgart Europa League check chronicled that breakthrough, highlighting Andrés’ maturity and poise as he established himself alongside Angelo Stiller. By the winter, the €3m signing could no longer reasonably be viewed simply as a prospect. Andrés had become a genuine member of the first-team midfield rotation and one of Stuttgart’s most successful pieces of recruitment from the previous summer.
Over the past 11 months, Andrés’ estimated market value has doubled from €10m to €20m. That status makes Brighton’s timing particularly difficult for VfB. A fee exceeding €20m would constitute a remarkable increase on the original purchase price, even accounting for Real Madrid’s substantial participation in any resale.
Selling now, however, would leave Stuttgart virtually no time to replace a player already firmly integrated into Hoeneß’ plans. One should nevertheless note that the youngster did not start in either of Stuttgart’s competitive fixtures this year. In both the Pokal and the Bundesliga, he made late appearances off the bench.
Chema remains important part of Stuttgart midfield
Andrés entered the new campaign with his role continuing to evolve. Get German Football News’ 2026/27 Stuttgart tactical preview identified the Spaniard as one of the quieter winners of preseason after Hoeneß used him extensively across several midfield roles. The 21-year-old operated as the deepest midfielder, dropped into central defense when required and also demonstrated an ability to contribute further forward.
His versatility helped leave Stuttgart with four distinct central-midfield profiles: Stiller as the playmaking reference, Grischa Prömel as the runner, Karazor as the defensive stabilizer and Andrés as the young hybrid capable of fulfilling several different assignments.
Brighton are now testing just how highly Stuttgart value that flexibility.
The Premier League club have put more than €20m on the table.
With the transfer window rapidly approaching its conclusion, Stuttgart must decide whether an enormous return on their initial investment is worth sacrificing one of Hoeneß’ most rapidly developed midfielders with virtually no time to procure a replacement.
