There was Norwich City. There was Southampton and Hull City. There was even - spectacularly - Leicester City, for a period: clubs punching above their weight by buying well, developing players and producing impactful individuals who Champions League-level teams would inevitably look to spend big on.
Each of those have found that it only takes a couple too many sales or a summer of failing to reinvest well to fall away from their upward arc. At times it’s not even that; just a year or two of not selling at the right time to maximise income and renewal opportunities can prove costly.
But the latest club who have risen on the back of some magnificent recruitment and coaching work look to be set not only with the current crop, but the next batch too: Brighton and Hove Albion, a side flying this season and looking well-prepared for a shot at European football next term.
Currently sat in eighth, the Seagulls are potentially in something of a false position; heading into Thursday’s game against Manchester United they have three matches in hand on each of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham above them. Two wins from those and they’d be in sixth at worst, a Europa League spot within reach.
There is no fluke here, with Brighton having impressed many, not with just their brand of football but also with the number of players they have brought in from rather less-typical locations than many Premier League clubs opt to work in. They’ve then given them a platform to succeed and become something near household names. The double-edged sword is that it’s possible - even likely - that this very same platform makes them targets elsewhere this summer, but Brighton are already prepared to survive that.
The Seagulls have felt the impact of doing well and losing key figures more than once over the last few months. Graham Potter, notably, was lured away from the dugout to Chelsea - that didn’t go well for him, but Roberto De Zerbi has shown a quick capacity to step in, not lose season-long progression and even improve the team in certain areas. Leandro Trossard too is gone, and next in line is expected to be midfield duo Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo.
There may be others. It might be a stretch to say Brighton won’t care, but they certainly won’t be unprepared.
Already, the current regular lineup now has a handful of players in it alongside those bigger-name performers - and the established, consistent faces - who have now had a good bedding-in spell and are, game to game, looking like match-winners.
Kaoru Mitoma is the best example, the winger catching attention with his non-stop dribbling, while Pervis Estupinan has improved markedly as the campaign has gone on. Enock Mwepu could well have been in the same group had he not been forced to retire earlier this year with a medical condition.
But even beyond that core group, Brighton’s next collection of probable stars of the first team are making their impact felt.
Chief among them is Julio Enciso. The 19-year-old forward is not dissimilar to Mitoma in terms of area of the pitch and impact, though he plays in a different way. A near-perfect transition player, the Paraguayan attacks the left channel at speed, can carry the ball well, is aggressive and has composure in his final ball. Two assists against Wolves mean he has contributed a goal scored or created every 97 minutes this league campaign - a small sample size for sure, but an indication of what De Zerbi is bringing along.
In a more archetypal No9 role, fellow teenager Evan Ferguson looks to have the confidence and technical capability to bring the goals the Seagulls have lacked for so long - while Ireland must be delighting at the prospect of at last having a genuine goalscorer in the ranks once more too. The 18-year-old already has his first senior strike on the international scene, to go with four in the English top flight.
Two more South Americans look exciting prospects too. January signing Facundo Buonanotte is only 18 and has also been handed game time, mostly in a No10 supporting role, while 20-year-old Jeremy Sarmiento already has a World Cup experience under his belt with Ecuador, even if injury has ended his participation this season at club level. Meanwhile, Billy Gilmour and Tariq Lamptey might be out of favour and out of the limelight this year, with both making only three league starts, but both are still only 21 and 22 respectively - there’s plenty of scope for growth.
It could well be that not a single one of those half a dozen players are in the XI on Thursday night. But that’s also the point: Brighton have a team in place which can compete against Man United and have confidence of winning the game.
And, come the end of the season, if a couple of that starting side does depart, there’s every reason to suspect plans will be afoot to not just replace them, but keep the club’s upward progression going in style.
