Man Utd, Chelsea and Leeds suffer transfer blow with Ben White set to stay at Brighton after £25m bid is rejected
BRIGHTON look set to win their fight to keep defender Ben White at the club.
The defender has been the subject of some major interest by Premier League clubs after an impressive season on loan at Leeds in the Championship.
But Brighton have been desperate to keep the player and other teams – including Liverpool – have been put off by the high transfer fee.
Leeds have been desperate for White, 22, to return next season but their top offer of £25million was turned down.
As SunSport revealed, Brighton were keen not to sell White to the Yorkshire side as they feel Marcelo Bielsa’s team will be a rival in the Premier League in terms of being in a similar league position.
Brighton would have been prepared to sell White for between £25m and £30m as that would have been an offer they could not refuse.
But Liverpool, along with Chelsea and Manchester United who also expressed an interest, have not been keen to meet those demands.
Graham Potter has talked up White’s prospects on the South Coast.
In July, he stated: “He’s our player, he’s got a long contract with us.
“I have known Ben for a while, I have been aware of him, wanted to try and sign him when we were at Swansea.
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“I know about his qualities. He’s a fantastic player.
“He’s done brilliantly at Leeds and helped them get promotion – that’s fantastic for them, fantastic for him – but he’s our player and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
Meawhile, Chelsea are on the verge of securing former Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva on a free transfer.
But Manchester United are yet to decide on Chris Smalling’s future after his impressive loan spell at Roma.