According to The Argus, Brighton have turned their attention away from signing Sheffield United’s Jack O’Connell after having two bids rejected by the Blades.
What’s the story?
The Argus reports that Brighton boss Chris Hughton is on the lookout for a fourth central defender to add to his squad and had submitted two offers for O’Connell, although the second was well below the £8 million figure reported elsewhere.
The 24-year-old centre-back has made 98 appearances for United since his move from Brentford in the summer of 2016, scoring six goals and providing the same number of assists in that time.
Hughton is looking for competition and cover for current central defenders Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and new signing Leon Balogun but is now likely to look elsewhere, leaving the door open for another club to come in and snap up the highly-rated defender.
The answer for Bielsa
If Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani is serious about backing his well-respected new boss Marcelo Bielsa, the club should consider forking out the £8m or so that it will take to make Sheffield United think about selling O’Connell.
The Argentine manager has so far added five players to his squad but the only defensive addition has been left-back Barry Douglas from Wolves. Given that Bielsa prefers to play with three at the back and the only senior centre-backs at the club are Pontus Jansson, Conor Shaughnessy and the unconvincing Laurens De Bock, he will most likely have to make a central defender a priority.
The Blades may be reluctant to sell to a Championship rival and O’Connell did sign a new contract last November. However, the 6 ft 3 in Scouser would be a fantastic signing for the West Yorkshire club and would help them push for promotion to the Premier League.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”274376″ player=”12034″ title=”The Consequences of West Ham Selling Obiang”]
