Brighton have gained a reputation for their excellent recruitment, but they appear to have let one top prospect slip through the net.
Brighton appear to have made a rare transfer blunder after letting the signing of striker Victor Boniface slip through the net. The Nigerian frontman has just been named the Bundesliga Player of the Month following a blistering start to his Bayer Leverkusen career after netting eight goals in his opening seven outings under Xabi Alonso.
Leverkusen signed Boniface for just £16million from Brighton’s sister club Union Saint-Gilloise, who were owned by Albion chairman Tony Bloom prior to this summer.
Bloom relinquished his majority stake in the Belgian side in July after Brighton secured qualification for the Europa League as USG also qualified for the competition.
But the Seagulls have previously made the most of their relationship with their Belgian counterparts, cherry-picking Union’s top talents including the likes of Kaoru Mitoma, Deniz Undav and Simon Adingra.
Intriguingly, Brighton were in the market for a new striker earlier this summer – landing Joao Pedro from Watford in a club-record £30m deal for Roberto De Zerbi. Now a host of top Premier League clubs are already keeping tabs on Boniface following his explosive start to life in the Bundesliga and he looks poised to generate Leverkusen mega profit in years to come.
The German side managed to secure the services of Boniface on a contract until 2028, and given that the forward is only 22, they will demand a significant fee for his services when clubs come calling – may that be in the January transfer window or over the summer.
Brighton will be hoping that they do not live to regret not signing Boniface in the long run, with Pedro already making a significant impact at the Amex Stadium since his arrival. The Brazilian has scored four goals in eight appearances for the Seagulls in all competitions, with De Zerbi making it no secret that he believes that the 22-year-old can improve significantly now that he has settled into the Brighton team.
Speaking earlier this month about Pedro, the Italian manager explained: “Joao Pedro can play better and better. He’s a good guy and I want to help him to reach one level higher. He can play better with his teammates, he can play better in our style, he can improve to become a complete player. He has incredible potential and I want everything from him.
“When he plays like a striker, he has to be smarter to attack the space, but my work is to improve the players. I am strong with him. I am strong with a young player when I understand the potential, so I push. We are fighting together so that we reach one level higher.”