Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham are among the clubs eyeing up Brighton wonderkid Evan Ferguson as a potential transfer target after his superb breakthrough season.
The talented 18-year-old forward has scored seven goals for Brighton’s senior side so far this season, and it’s clear that top clubs in England and abroad are already taking notice of him, as revealed by Ben Jacobs in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, to be published in full later today.
Ferguson also has admirers from the likes of Barcelona and Roma, but it seems he’s loyal to Brighton and it’s not necessarily going to be easy to persuade them to sell anyway.
The Seagulls have lost a few of their star names in recent times, such as Leandro Trossard and Ben White to Arsenal, plus Marc Cucurella to Chelsea, and Yves Bissouma to Tottenham.
Still, Brighton are no pushovers in the transfer market and will surely not let a talent like Ferguson go without a fight, though it perhaps seems inevitable that he’ll be good enough to become a key player for big names like Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs before too long.
United need a striker after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, while Chelsea have made a few poor signings in that department in recent times so could do with this top young talent coming in and giving them something different.
Tottenham, meanwhile, may well look at someone like Ferguson as an ideal long-term Harry Kane replacement, with the England international approaching the final year of his contract with the north Londoners.
“Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona and Roma have all scouted Ferguson. This is normal since clubs know they have to track this type of player early and start building relationships ready for when they choose to move,” Jacobs wrote.
“Ferguson is of appeal to all these top clubs because he has a bit of everything: he’s strong, clinical and intelligent… but perhaps most importantly from Brighton’s perspective, loyal.
“Ferguson is contracted until 2026, so it’s very difficult for any club to prize him away this summer, at least at value, especially given Ferguson’s priority is game time, and if Brighton qualify for Europe there is really no reason for him to leave in 2023.”