Brighton want Mykola Matviyenko as Roberto De Zerbi eyes a coup following interest from both Arsenal and Manchester City.
The Seagulls brought in De Zerbi as a replacement for Graham Potter following his move to Chelsea in September.
De Zerbi only took two points from his first five games though and had to wait until Saturday for his first win, ironically hammering Potter’s Chelsea.
Brighton will of course have a number of January targets in mind but De Zerbi seems to fancy reuniting with a couple of his former Shakhtar Donetsk players.
Brighton want Mykola Matviyenko
First it was midfielder Maycon, with UOL Esporte reporting last week that Brighton and Shakhtar’s Brazilian midfielder.
Now it’s Matviyenko on De Zerbi’s wish list as he eyes a couple of reunions.
The Athletic report that De Zerbi is particularly keen to sign defender Matviyenko ahead of the January window.
It’s stated that Matviyenko would cost around £17million and any move will have to be signed off by Brighton’s recruitment team.
The report notes that Arsenal and Manchester City have both eyed up Matviyenko in recent times, giving a pretty strong indication about his quality.
Matviyenko, 26, is a naturally left-sided centre back who is very comfortable on the ball.
Also capable of playing at left back, Matviyenko has now racked up nearly 150 appearances for Shakhtar, bagging six goals and nine assists in the process.
De Zerbi clearly loved managing Matviyenko during his time at Shakhtar and will now hope that the defender feels a similar way.
It’s unlikely that City will go in for another centre back any time soon but Arsenal do fancy another left-footed centre back to compete with Gabriel Magalhaes.
That’s something Brighton will have to keep an eye on as they consider moving to reunite De Zerbi with Ukrainian international Matviyenko.
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