Brighton & Hove Albion defender Joel Veltman has admitted that the time to leave the club could be on the cards at the end of the season when his contract expires. The full-back joined the club from Ajax in 2020 and has since made 169 appearances.

This season, he has played in four of the Seagulls' eight Premier League games but has been unavailable for the last two due to a calf injury. Veltman is currently in the final year of his contract at the AMEX Stadium, and his future at the club is presently uncertain.

From January, the 33-year-old will be able to hold talks with clubs outside of Europe and agree a pre-contract deal.Fabian Hurzeler is understood to be a fan of Veltman, with his experience coming good in his defence.

However, the Dutchman has admitted that he is thinking about where his future lies beyond the summer. "At my age, it seems healthy to think about life after football," he told the Ajax official website.

"I'm not necessarily going to say I want to be a head coach. For example, when I played for Ajax, I received specialist training from Jaap Stam. As a defender, I learned so much from that.

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"Dennis Bergkamp did the same with the attackers back then. A role as a specialist coach seems like a good fit for me."

After progressing through Ajax's highly rated academy, Veltman made over 240 appearances for the Dutch club. In the summer, he was linked with a return to the Johan Cruyff Arena, a deal that could happen at the end of the current season.

"Yes, but the timing wasn't right," he added when asked about the interest in the summer. "I still had a current contract. That expires next summer.

"Then it becomes a time for making choices. Do Brighton want to continue with me? Do I embark on another adventure abroad, or is that the time for a return to Ajax? I'll think about it carefully."

Brighton are expected to be involved in another summer of change when the transfer window opens in June. In the previous window, Joao Pedro, Pervis Estupinan, Simon Adingra, Matt O'Riley, Facundo Buonanotte and Evan Ferguson all departed with money invested in the likes of Maxim De Cuyper and Charalampos Kostoulas.

Carlos Baleba, Kaoru Mitoma and Jan Paul van Hecke are all expected to be highly contested next year. Baleba was the subject of interest from Manchester United during the summer, something CEO Paul Barber immediately played down.

"We have got some great talent," he told supporters at a Fans' Forum in August. "There is always going to be interest in our players.

"Manchester United have not been in touch with me. From that point of view, speculation is speculation. We will always try and make sure we sell our best players at the right time, not just for the player but also for us."

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