After six successful years in the Premier League, 32-year-old Pascal Groß is part of the national team for the first time. The late starter has an interesting history.
When English Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion lost 3-1 to West Ham last weekend, there was little to celebrate on the Channel coast. Pascal Groß nevertheless had a small moment of joy in the “Seagulls'” first defeat of the season: The 32-year-old from Mannheim scored the consolation goal for Brighton – it was his 27th league goal for the coastal club, for which he has been on the road for six years.
Top goalscorer for Brighton
And that goal made history – Gross is now the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in the Premier League. He replaced previous top shooter Glenn Murray (39), who had previously topped the list with 26 hits.
Midfielder Groß has long made a name for himself in the Premier League. The success of Brighton, who qualified for the Europa League for the first time in sixth place last season, is closely linked to the history of the German.
2017 from Ingolstadt to the island
When Groß moved from FC Ingolstadt to the island for around three million euros in 2017, Brighton had just made it into the Premier League. The fact that the promoted team used the Bundesliga team that had been relegated at the time came as a total surprise to most outsiders.
But they had their eyes on Groß for a long time, and he hardly needed any time to adjust to the changed circumstances. “I still needed the first two or three games, but in the end I acclimatized relatively quickly,” Groß told the media department of his ex-club a few weeks ago, which dedicated an article in the club newspaper to the former player.
goals for the history books
Groß scored the first Premier League goal in the club’s history for Brighton on Matchday 4 and thus immortalized himself in the history books of his employer. The right-footed player already made history during his time on the Danube when he scored the very first Schanzer home goal in the Bundesliga against Eintracht Frankfurt on October 3, 2015: “These are beautiful moments and memories that you look back on with pleasure,” said Large.
In his first season in Brighton, Groß scored 15 points and was instrumental in reaching 15th place in the table and staying up in the league. With his intelligent style of play, his tactical skills and his goal threat, he was a real asset to the league right away – but Groß was ignored by the DFB.
Groß before the World Cup: “Chances are not particularly good”
As a young player at Hoffenheim and Karlsruhe, he played four games for the German U20s, but has not yet been allowed to play in an international match.
When asked about his chances with the national team, Groß said about a year ago in the run-up to the World Cup in Qatar: “Of course the national team is a dream for me. But I have to be realistic, my chances are not that great.”
Flick corrects the DFB opinion on big
Hansi Flick is now correcting the attitude of the DFB, with the first appointment Groß’ dream is now coming true late. “I talked to his coach Roberto de Zerbi for a long time about Pascal. He told me about Pascal’s great tactical skills. And of course he played impressively for Brighton again last season.”
And big himself? Of course, he has not yet publicly commented on the nomination, but Hansi Flick reports that “Pascal was extremely happy and is really hot for the national team.”