Brighton and Hove Albion have rightly been lauded for their transfer business over the past few seasons.
Though the Seagulls have still sold on some of their best players, they’ve done so at a huge profit which has allowed them to strengthen elsewhere.
Developing young players has become their forte, and that perhaps explains why the Premier League outfit have agreed a deal for Gothenburg’s 18-year-old player Malick Junior Yalcouye.
CaughtOffside sources with knowledge of the deal recognised that both Bayern Munich and Manchester United were two of the first teams to be monitoring the player’s movements, though an official offer from the two European giants wasn’t forthcoming.
Similarly, Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven registered an interest but nothing more.
Gent, Ajax and Brentford’s interest in Malick Junior Yalcouye was more concrete, but all three have been beaten to the punch by Brighton.
It’s understood that the club will pay €10m for his services, and he will be offered a five-year contract.
Brighton directors had been impressed by the Ivory Coast player’s abilities but were waiting for a new coach to be unveiled before making their move.
With Fabian Hurzeler having been secured as Roberto De Zerbi’s replacement, the young German is readying himself for his first pre-season in English football, and he’ll now be able to call upon the services of Malick Junior Yalcouye as needed.
It remains an exciting time for a club that continue to exceed all expectations, and it will be interesting to see if the Hurzeler experiment is as successful as those of Graham Potter and De Zerbi.
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