Brighton and other Premier League clubs have been linked with St Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj following his impressive last 18 months in the Bundesliga.
The 29-year-old Bosnian keeper joined Fabian Hurzeler’s former club in 2021, and he remained the German boss’ No.1 during their time together at the Millerntor Stadium. Over the past two campaigns, Vasilj has been a key figure in retaining St Pauli’s Bundesliga status, making some vital match-winning saves and racking up a penalty save percentage of 86%. He saved four spot kicks last season and has already saved a further two this season.
According to SportBILD, the Seagulls and Brentford are scouting Vasilj, and both sides have been hugely impressed by his top-flight performances. However, it’s not been made clear how long either of the two outfits have been watching him for.
Despite the interest, St. Pauli ‘cannot do without’ their first-choice goalkeeper and therefore any deal would likely come at a high price.
It’s unusual that both clubs are scouting goalkeepers, as the Bees just spent big on former Liverpool backup Caoimhin Kelleher, and Brighton have a plethora of keepers who are either Premier League quality or have the potential to reach that level.
The Albion’s current No.1 is Dutchman Bart Verbruggen, and despite strong links with Bayern Munich in recent windows, the noise surrounding a departure seems to have fizzled out.
Brighton also have Jason Steele at the club, who recently signed a contract extension at the Amex Stadium, as well as youngsters Carl Rushworth and James Beadle, who are both impressing during their respective loans at Coventry and Birmingham.
The Sussex side also acquired young Swedish goalkeeper Nils Ramming over the summer from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee of around £1million, so it would be an eyebrow-raising move to bring in another option between the sticks who would likely block his path to the first team.