Brighton are set to sign Jose Izquierdo pending a work permit.
Brighton and Newcastle battled it out last season to win promotion from the Championship, with both sealing the automatic spots.
It was Newcastle who went up as champions after a slip up from Brighton on the last day, and it is the Seagulls who have now paid out the biggest fee of the two clubs in the transfer market as they attempt to gear up to try and survive in the Premier League.
The fee will be £13.5 million, a club record transfer.
The 26-year-old winger joins from Club Brugges, where he netted 16 goals in 34 appearances last season.
Izquierdo will find it tougher in the Premier League, but the transfer is the sort of exciting gamble Brighton need to take if they are going to stand a chance of surviving in the Premier League.
Newcastle themselves have bought Jacob Murphy from Norwich City for £10 million, and hope that unlike Izquierdo, he will not need any adjustment to English football.
Murphy is a raw talent who has no meaningful Premier League experience behind him, but did shine against Everton in the EFL Cup last season.
Brighton have looked outside of England for their biggest signing but have paid a bigger fee to bring in the South American.
The winger will have to show he is worth the gamble, and can provide a dual threat with Anthony Knockaert on the other flank.
Newcastle should be commended for signing young English talent, Brighton fans will hope that their club spending that little bit more has seen them sign a vastly superior player.
Last season he was scoring in the Champions League, while Murphy was playing in the Championship.
Yet despite his talent, if he can’t hit the Premier League ground running, Brighton may end up rueing their decision not to push to sign Murphy themselves.
Who would you rather have? Izqueirdo or Murphy?
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