Manchester United and Liverpool will be forced to search for new striker targets in the January transfer window after Evan Ferguson signed a new contract with Brighton.
Ferguson has starred for the Seagulls, scoring five goals in 11 Premier League games so far this season. The Irishman has established himself as a key starter for club and country, attracting interest from the top-flight's bigger teams.
Both United and Liverpool have previously explored moves for the 19-year-old, who joined Brighton in January 2021. But any plans to pursue a deal for Ferguson in the January window will have to be scraped after Brighton secured his long-term future.
The south coast side announced on Friday that the striker had signed a long-term contract extension earlier this week. The new deal will see him stay at the AMEX Stadium until at least the summer of 2029.
It is a deal that has delighted club chiefs, with technical director David Weir hailing the young star. “Evan is a brilliant young talent and we are delighted for him," Weir said after the news was announced.
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“He’s shown his ability at club and international level, after breaking into the team at the start of the year, and we are looking forward to working with him and watching his continued progress.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Has Evan Ferguson made the right decision in signing a new Brighton contract? Comment below.
Evan Ferguson has signed a new contract with Brighton (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)Liverpool appear to be better set to dealing with this blow than United, having scored 24 goals in their 11 Premier League games. United meanwhile have only managed a paltry 12 in the same timeframe, despite bringing in Rasmus Hojlund during the summer.
The Danish international has failed to fire in the top-flight since his arrival from Atalanta. Boss Erik ten Hag is growing frustrated with his side's faltering attack and has hinted at fresh moves to rectify the issue in January.
"We are not consistently in position at the level we can be where we show in games we can be. We should do this on a consistent basis, but pressing we’re quite good, we have the most ball regains from the whole Premier League, the most middle regains in the whole Premier League, our defending and pressing organisation, that is us," he said a fortnight ago.
"But we don’t take the benefit in the attacking transition moments, we have the ability in our teams to take benefits from it. This is how to grow and progress and the games will become more easy. The cooperation has to click.
"We showed some examples where there are so many we have overload positions, where we are in overload positions going to the opponents' goal and we don't net, or we don't even hit the target.
"We should do this better. I'm sure we don't have time to train this fact, but we get some coaching and I'm convinced with the qualities from our players, that they will go and score more goals."
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