Top target: Brighton identify “brilliant” 19 y/o ace for £20m+ January move

Brighton are looking to continue their unprecedented spending in the transfer market with a move for a teenage midfielder in January, it has been reported.

Mega summer for Brighton

Fabian Hurzeler’s side spent just shy of £200m in the summer transfer window, the third highest of any Premier League side and behind only traditional big six pair Manchester United and Chelsea (£205.9m and £219.6m respectively).

Their £192m outlay included breaking their transfer record twice, and recording six of their seven most expensive ever additions, with last summer’s capture of Joao Pedro the only similar outlay in their history.

“At the start of the window, we knew there were going to be opportunities, we knew there were going to be quite a few incomings, quite a few changes. We probably did not envisage quite as much,” Brighton chief Tony Bloom explained.

“Other bigger clubs on the continent have not quite got the budgets to compete with some of the Premier League teams, so some of the players that perhaps would not have been available to us in the past have become available”, he added.

“You are always looking to improve and I think we have done that with the business we’ve completed. We think we have a great chance of competing at the top end of the table.”

Not all of their new signings are ready to make an instant impact, with Matt O’Riley’s debut lasting just minutes before he suffered a serious ankle injury that threatens to sideline him for several months. But Brighton remain on the hunt for yet more midfield reinforcements, and have now identified their top target for January.

Seagulls eye up Championship starlet

That comes as Alan Nixon claims that the South Coast side are eyeing up a move to sign Sheffield United’s talented teenager Ollie Arblaster this January, and have made him their top target for the winter window.

The midfielder was a rare shining light as Sheffield United were relegated from the Premier League, and drew plenty of praise from watchers, with the midfielder dubbed “brilliant” by former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba in March.

“His performances are brilliant. The way he played against Bournemouth was great. To deal with all the hype of the England Elite squad and then to go and score, it’s just brilliant.”

He has enjoyed his first games in the Championship too, scoring twice in just four appearances. Now, it is claimed that Brighton are ready to test Sheffield United’s resolve this January, and would ‘be willing to pay in excess of £20m” for the midfielder, though it remains to be seen whether that would be enough to tempt the Blades into parting ways with their academy talent.

With him now the Seagulls’ “top target”, should Chris Wilder’s team not be on course for promotion, the move may look increasingly attractive for the teenager as the season goes on.