Brighton and Hove Albion are happy to pay the £1.5 million fee required to sign NAC Breda defender Jan Paul van Hecke with his move to Monaco hitting the buffers, according to BN DeStem.
Graham Potter’s Seagulls have already raided Dutch football once this summer, with experienced Holland international Joel Veltman swapping Ajax for the Amex.
While Brighton chairman Tony Bloom admitted this week that the South Coast club now have an ‘abundance’ of centre-halves at their disposal, it seems there could be another on his way.
Reports in the Netherlands suggest that Van Hecke is heading to Brighton after a purported move to Monaco failed to materialise.
The Seagulls are willing to meet NAC Breda’s £1.5 million asking price for a 20-year-old who looks likely to join Shane Duffy, Ben White, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and the aforementioned Veltman on English soil.
If the arrival of Veltman at the Amex got pulses racing in West Yorkshire, reports suggesting that Brighton will sign yet another central defender will only enhance the belief that White could be set for an emotional return to Elland Road.
The Sun (29 July, page 51) claims that Leeds are willing to pay £20 million for White, who was arguably the best player in the Championship’s best team last season.
The Mirror (4 August, page 46), meanwhile, state that West Ham want to sign Duffy for £10 million, with the Irishman falling out of favour due to Potter’s preference for classy, technically gifted defenders.
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