Brighton’s £20m bid for Bristol City’s Webster could finally trigger Maguire to Man United and Dunk to Leicester

Brighton appear to be at the epicentre of one of the most costly centre back sale chains in football history.
Adam Webster (Getty)Adam Webster (Getty)
Adam Webster (Getty)

The Seagulls have reportedly bid £20m, plus add-ons, for Bristol City’s Adam Webster.

The Seagulls have had a number of offers rejected for the 24-year-old this summer but remain hopeful a deal can be struck.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A successful deal for Webster could well trigger an expensive game of defensive dominoes, freeing up Harry Maguire’s £80m move from Leicester to Manchester United for £80m, Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk’s switch to Leicester for £40m, Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark to Bristol for £6m and Stanley N’Soki from PSG to Newcastle for £11m.

The fee for Webster would be a record for a Championship player who joined City last summer from Ipswich for £8m.

The tall centre back impressed for Lee Johnson’s City team last season and Brighton seem ready to make him their club-record signing – surpassing the £17m they paid AZ Alkmaar for Alireza Jahanbakhsh in 2018.

Johnson told Sky Sports News, “I’d love to keep him, he’s an excellent player. The market now has a particular set of movements, and Adam Webster would be thought about by a number of clubs. The market’s starting to become vibrant and move.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Johnson, however, remained cagey when asked if Brighton were one of the clubs bidding for Webster. “You’re asking the head coach here, who has to play it a little bit coy.

“But there has been interest from numerous Premier League clubs.”