Records broken as Brighton close in on sensational £55m double transfer for Chelsea and Man Utd targets

Brighton are closing in on a sensational £55m double transfer swoop, pipping the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United to their respective signatures.

The mood amongst Brighton‘s fans at the end of last season was much bleaker than it had been in recent times.

Despite this being the best point in the club’s history, after qualifying for European football for the first time and finishing sixth in the Premier League in 2022/23, there were uncertain times ahead at the Sussex outfit.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi left the club, seemingly after a disagreement with owner Tony Bloom about their transfer strategy, and the slower-than-normal search to find his successor was making many fans anxious.

Eventually, they landed on St Pauli boss Fabian Hurzeler – a 31-year-old who led the German team into the Bundesliga last season.

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However, jumping up from the second tier of German football to the Premier League is a mighty step and some feared this campaign would be a struggle for the division’s youngest-ever manager.

But, Bloom has splashed the cash in style this summer, spending nearly £150m on the likes of Georginio Rutter, Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Brajan Gruda, and more. 

Moreover, they thumped recent bogey side Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park in Hurzeler’s first game in charge to get their Premier League season off to a flying start last weekend.

Earlier on Friday, reports suggested Brighton have agreed to sign Fenerbahce star Ferdi Kadioglu for £25.4m.

The Turkish international is predominantly a left-back, but can play as an attacking midfielder, a right-back, and on both wings.

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Hot on the heels of that, Fabrizio Romano states the Seagulls have reached an agreement to sign Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley.

TEAMtalk previously reported that Celtic were demanding a record transfer fee for the 24-year-old, which currently stands at £25m – following the exits of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal and Jota to Al-Ittihad.

With Billy Gilmour seemingly heading for an £18m move to Napoli this summer, Brighton are in need of midfield reinforcements – particularly as club legend Pascal Gross left to join Borussia Dortmund.

Several hours on from confirming the Kadioglu transfer news, Romano has reported that O’Riley will join Brighton in the coming days.

He claims the Denmark international – who was born in London and has scored 27 goals in 124 appearances for the Scottish giants since moving there from Milton Keynes Dons in January 2022 – will head to the Seagulls for a fee that could rise to £30m – a record transfer exit for Celtic.

That will take Brighton’s spending this summer to around the £200m mark.