“Boehly paid Elon to ban them,” “Suspended for extortion” - Fans react as Brighton’s official X account gets suspended

Brighton & Hove Albion recently found themselves in a very unusual situation. The Seagulls' X account (formerly known as Twitter) was inexplicably suspended, causing all sorts of confusion among fans.

Many jokingly accused Chelsea owner Todd Boehly of being the mastermind behind this suspension, owing to the business dealings between the two clubs. The Blues have been splashing the cash ever since Boehly set foot in West London, and a huge chunk of it has gone to Brighton for the services of their players.

Chelsea have handed the Seagulls an astonishing £222m in the past 18 months in the process of luring Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, manager Graham Potter and, most recently, Moises Caicedo away from Falmer Stadium (source: ESPN UK). Fans were quick to connect the dots and have poured in some amusing reactions to Brighton's account suspension.

Here are some of the best reactions from X:

A fan also hinted at the X officials being Liverpool fans, throwing shade at the Reds' failed pursuit of the aforementioned Caicedo. While the actual reason behind the suspension has not been revealed, Brighton have since gained access to their account, putting an end to the fans' clever takes on the debacle.

Led by former Sassuolo boss Roberto De Zerbi, the Seagulls kicked off the new season in style, dismantling newbies Luton Town 4-1 at home. Newcomer Joao Pedro and youngster Simon Adingra stole the headlines with their remarkable performances, chipping in with a goal apiece. De Zerbi's men will now face Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium in their second Premier League outing this term.

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Life after Moises Caicedo for Brighton

Despite losing the likes of Robert Sanchez, Alexis Mac Allister and Chelsea-bound Moises Caicedo in the same window, Brighton appear to be doing fine due to their excellent scouting network.

The Seagulls have already enlisted the likes of Joao Pedro, goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner, among others, as compensation, with the latter two coming to the Falmer Stadium for free. The club is surprisingly well-versed in replacing their outgoing starlets with rather unknown entities, only for them to become household names later.

They previously replaced the likes of Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard by recruiting the highly-underrated Pervis Estupinan and trusting Kaoru Mitoma on the left. It's fair to say that the gamble has paid off, and Brighton might have to look for an alternative for Mitoma, considering his astonishing form.

With De Zerbi at the helm, the Seagulls would hope to improve on their impressive 2022-23 campaign, which saw them secure sixth place, their best-ever finish in the Premier League.