After a 2024-2025 season rated the worst of his career, Ben Old is back in full shape this summer. The New Zealand striker, long away from the field due to knee injuries, made his timid return at the end of last season and took advantage of a successful summer preparation to put his first goal with ASSE in the official game. Having arrived discreetly in July 2024, Old, considered one of the greatest hopes of his generation, saw his integration restrained by his injury and competition. Back on the ground in April, he is ready to return to his level and could benefit from the Ligue 2, with his spaces and rhythm adapted to his qualities, to fully flourish. He expressed his motivation to give everything for the club and the city, after a difficult season and the disappointment of relegation.

Asse continues to strengthen its ranks with the arrival of Joshua Duffus, a 20-year-old British attacker from Brighton Academy. He committed himself until 2029, confirming the ASSE’s strategy of combining experience and youth. Duffus, described as fast, good in the game of passes and able to create spaces, was recruited after refusing to extend his contract with Brighton, in search of playing time and a new challenge in a developing championship. Its profile, combined with its power and its emphasis on teamwork, could bring an additional dimension to the Stéphanois attack.

This signature is part of the ASSE’s ambitious recruitment policy, aimed at building a workforce that can compete over the long term. Brighton’s observers are convinced that Duffus is an excellent recruit and that he has all the potential to flourish in a club like the Greens, which offers an environment conducive to the development of young talent. The arrival of Duffus, like that of the other summer reinforcements, bears witness to the ASSE’s desire to surprise and project itself towards the future, with the hope of making him a serious alternative, even a regular one, to the Stéphanese attack.