Brighton & Hove Albion wonderkid Evan Ferguson has put pen to paper on a new six-year contract at the AMEX Stadium.
Ferguson, 19, has become a household Premier League name after bursting onto the scene by scoring his first top-flight goal against Arsenal in December last year, since scoring 15 in total for the Seagulls to date.
The Republic of Ireland international was subject of transfer interest in the summer from Manchester United amongst other clubs, and he’s continued to thrive on the south coast – netting his first hat-trick for the club in their 3-1 home win against Newcastle United back in September.
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Ferguson’s extension keeps him under contract at Brighton until June 2029, seeing some fans question what his value will be now after Moises Caicedo previously cost Chelsea £115million in the summer.
One comment on Twitter read: “At least that means Chelsea have to bid £200m to get Ferguson now”, a second said: “Congrats, Brighton will ask £500m for his transfer fee now”. While a third suggested a different valuation, adding: “£100m transfer incoming.”
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Todd Boehly’s big-spending Chelsea could have potentially swooped to sign the Irishman on the cheap when he was still playing in his homeland for Bohemians, where he incredibly made his first-team bow in a friendly against the Blues as a 14-year-old.
His talent seemingly wasn’t spotted by Chelsea and Brighton instead brought him to East Sussex in January 2021, making his first-team debut a year later in the FA Cup against West Brom.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, who has made the teenager a key part of his place after he made his debut under Graham Potter, said: “Evan deserves this new contract and he has a very big future ahead of him.”
Since netting his hat-trick against Newcastle, Ferguson’s development and minutes have been closely monitored by De Zerbi, who has started him in the previous six Premier League games, although he didn’t play the full 90 minutes in any of them despite Brighton being winless in their last five league games.
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