Brighton have reportedly been handed a blow in their pursuit of FC Nordsjaelland’s Caleb Yirenkyi, who they view as a Carlos Baleba replacement, with three of the ‘Big Six’ sending scouts to watch the talented midfielder in action last weekend.
The 20-year-old was named as one of the Seagulls’ top targets ahead of the January transfer window, with the club looking to secure their Baleba replacement early as part of their contingency planning.
It has since emerged that a £15million bid from an English club was rejected by Nordsjaelland last month, but it is unconfirmed whether or not Brighton made that offer.
According to TEAMtalk, the Albion have been monitoring Yirenkyi since last year and identified him as a genuine option to replace Baleba, who is being eyed by a host of top teams around Europe.
However, they are not alone in their admiration as it is claimed Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United all had scouts in attendance to watch the midfielder score and produce a Man of the Match performance for Nordsjaelland in their 2-1 win against Sonderjyske recently. They have also made enquiries into his availability.
The aforementioned outfits are not alone in their interest either, with Tottenham, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Brentford, and West Ham all keeping a close eye on the youngster.
In total, ‘nearly half of the Premier League’ have Yirenkyi on their radar, which further adds to the Seagulls’ recent frustrations as they extended their poor run of form to one win in 12 Premier League games last weekend.
However, there is still some hope for the Albion. Despite so many teams chasing Yirenkyi and Nordsjaelland knowing the scale of that interest, the Danish side’s asking price is said to be in the region of £22m, which is an affordable figure for the south coast club, even though it would be a new record sale for a Danish side.