Mohammed Kudus scored 18 goals for Ajax last season (Photo: Getty)
Brighton have reportedly agreed a deal to sign Mohammed Kudus – beating Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United to the Ajax star.
Kudus has been linked with all four Premier League sides over the summer, off the back of a terrific season for Ajax where he recorded 18 goals and seven assists across all competitions.
He also caught the eye at the Qatar World Cup, scoring two goals in the group stage for Ghana.
It seemed that Chelsea were leading the race for his signature, given that Arsenal need to trim their squad before making new signings and United have been focusing on other positions, though Erik ten Hag remains a big fan of his former player.
Furthermore, reports in July claimed that the Blues had agreed personal terms with the attacking midfielder and they had even held initial talks with the Dutch giants over a fee.
However, The Athletic now report that Brighton have swooped in to hijack the move and have reached agreement in principle to sign Kudus for £34.5million – a club record fee.
Personal terms are close to being finalised and if all goes well the 23-year-old’s transfer will become the Seagull’s most expensive player of all-time, overtaking £30m forward Joao Pedro who moved from Watford earlier this summer.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is a huge fan of Kudus (Photo: Getty)
Roberto De Zerbi is said to be a huge fan of Kudus and was keen to sign him ahead of the club’s first season playing in Europe, having lost key midfielder Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool earlier in the window.
The South Coast side have also sold goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to Chelsea, but are holding fast on their £100m valuation of Moises Caicedo who is another top target for the Blues.
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Mauricio Pochettino’s side have had three bids rejected for the highly-rated defensive midfielder, the last of which worth £80m, and they are now looking at alternative options.
As for missing out on Kudus, Chelsea have already lined up a different player in that position, as it was reported on Saturday that they had launched a bid for Crystal Palace star Michael Olise.
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A huge coup for the Seagulls.