Serie A club bids for Enciso, Albion set to miss out on two transfer targets & other Brighton news from the last 7 days (Brighton news roundup Jan. 5-11)
Brighton’s losing run is finally over. The Seagulls took care of business against Norwich on Saturday, while the women’s FA Cup game was unfortunately postponed. Let’s catch up on these stories and all the Brighton news from the last seven days.
Transfer News
Incoming Transfers
Vitor Reis, Alberto Costa - Brighton set to miss out on two transfer targets
Multiple credible reports have claimed that Brighton have had at least two bids turned down for Palmeiras center back Vitor Reis. New reports from Brazil and England claim that Manchester City have blown Brighton’s bids out of the water and now look set to sign the wonderkid for around €40m.
Portuguese outlet Record (via Sport Witness) claim Brighton have bid €12m for Vitória Guimarães right back Alberto Costa. However, multiple other reports have claimed that Sporting CP have beaten Brighton in the race for his signature. A Bola claims his agent has informed Brighton that Costa is only interested in signing for Sporting, while Fabrizio Romano says the Portuguese club are “set to complete a deal” for the 21-year-old.
Stefanos Tzimas - Seagulls “monitoring” Greek wonderkid
Amid reports linking Nürnberg’s Stefanos Tzimas to multiple Premier League clubs, Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenburg has revealed that Brighton are “monitoring” the 19-year-old forward.
Tzimas is regarded as one of the brightest young forwards in Europe right now. He is currently on loan at Nürnberg from Greek side POAK. However, the 2. Bundesliga club have a €18m buy option that they are expected to trigger before immediately selling Tzimas in the summer.
Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Newcastle are also reportedly interested.
Harvey Elliott - Albion linked to Liverpool midfielder
Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas has reported that Brighton and Borussia Dortmund are “keeping tabs” on Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott. The 21 year old has struggled to find minutes under new Reds’ boss Arne Slot, and could be looking for a move away from the club in the summer.
After Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley—a game in which Elliott played all 90 minutes—Slot admitted that it’s difficult to fit fringe players like Elliott into his side.
Theo Mawene - Scouts watching Preston North End prospects
According to EFL reporter Alan Nixon, Brighton and Brentford have sent scouts to keep an eye on Preston North End midfielder Theo Mawene. Specifically, the Bees and the Seagulls will send scouts to watch the 17 year old in Preston’s FA Youth Cup against Manchester United on January 17th.
Outgoing Transfers
Julio Enciso - Atalanta submit bid for loan with buy option
After reports from Paraguay revealed last week that Julio Enciso will be staying at Brighton this season, a new report from TuttoMercatoWeb says that Serie A side Atalanta have submitted a bid to take the attacker in on loan this season.
The report also claims that the offer included an option to buy Enciso for a similar price to what Brighton paid for him in 2022 (£9m).
Evan Ferguson - Bournemouth & Stuttgart enter the race, Brighton to delay decision
The Guardian have reported that Bournemouth have joined the race to sign Evan Ferguson along with seemingly half the Premier League and German side Stuttgart. The report claims that the Cherries have “made an initial inquiry” following the injury to their starting forward, Evanilson.
A separate report from The Telegraph’s Matt Law says that Brighton are hoping to delay making a decision on Ferguson’s future until they can assess Danny Welbeck’s fitness.
Jakub Moder - Leicester re-ignite transfer interest, Everton also in talks
With his contract expiring this June, multiple clubs are reportedly interested in Brighton midfielder Jakub Moder. Caught Offside reports that Everton and Leicester City have already started talks with the Polish midfielder and that Brighton are set to let him leave this month.
Moder was previously supposed to join Leicester last summer as a part of a swap deal for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before Chelsea gazumped the Seagulls. Other reports have linked Moder to Udinese, Union Berlin, and Stuttgart.
Other News & Media
Brighton Women FA Cup match postponed
Brighton Women’s FA Cup campaign was supposed to start on Saturday with a match against second-tier side Durham. Unfortunately, a frozen pitch at Broadfield Stadium meant that the match had to be postponed. The new match date has yet to be announced.
Paul Barber talks transfer plans, independent regulator, and more
Speaking to The Argus, Brighton CEO Paul Barber said that the club is happy with the current squad and that he is hoping for a “nice and quiet” January window.
More controversially, in an interview with The Times, Barber spoke out against an independent football regulator in England.
“The cost of regulation is going to have to be borne in most cases by Premier League clubs. We’ve two choices with those costs. We either stop doing some of the things we’re already doing, whether that’s academy, women’s, girls’ football or whatever, or we pass those costs on to fans,” Barber said.
David Weir linked to Everton
Multiple reports have linked Brighton Technical Director David Weir to join Everton. The Scotsman played under new Toffees manager David Moyes.
None of these reports have been very credible. When asked about whether they could be true, Sky Sports Everton reporter Alan Myers claimed on Twitter that he was “not aware” of any interest from Everton in Weir. That post has since been deleted, so this may be one to watch.
Brighton Academy Director Interview with The Athletic
In an interview with The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Brighton Academy Director Ian Buckman shared insights into his job and why Brighton’s academy has been so successful in recent years. Watch here.
Harry Howell wins Premier League 2 Player of the Month, Peupion nominated
16-year-old attacking midfielder Harry Howell has won the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for December. He scored a hat trick and served up an assist in Brighton U21’s 5-1 win over Tottenham before the New Year. Forward Cam Peupion was also nominated.