Brighton transfer news: Big guns still keen on Seagulls player, Pundit issues warning over Albion star

A whole host of Albion players have been linked with interest from other clubs, including Ben White, Yves Bissouma, and Tariq Lamptey – and there have been interesting updates on Arsenal’s reported interest in the latter two.

Starting with Lamptey, The Athletic report that the Gunners will not be deterred by the young right-back putting pen to paper on a new deal on the south coast, and still consider him to be a transfer target.

The defender agreed a bumper new deal over the past couple of days that is expected to keep him at the Amex until at least 2025, but Mikel Arteta’s side still retain an interest.

Evidently, Lamptey won’t be going anywhere this month – barring a stunning series of events – but the fact that Brighton may still only be looking for around £23 million for the player could tempt Arsenal to pounce further down the line.

As recently as December, the Mirror were reporting that Barcelona want to make a move for Gunners right-back Hector Bellerin, and if he does leave the club in the near future, the north Londoners would need a replacement…

Elsewhere, Arsenal are also said to be keen on Seagulls midfielder Yves Bissouma – but pundit Alan Smith has urged his old club to exercise caution if the pursue a deal for the Malian.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Sometimes that is the hard part in judging whether they are right for the club. Can they handle a step up?

"For example, somebody like Emi Buendia at Norwich or Yves Bissouma at Brighton, can they handle the step up in expectation at a bigger club?

“Some people can, some can't, but you can never be certain until a player arrives.”

Given his sparkling form this season, Brighton supporters will likely be hoping that Arteta and his board decide against moving for Bissouma, but the truth is that there has been nothing in his recent showings to suggest that it would be any kind of gamble for a top six side to swoop for him.

The 24-year-old is second only to Solly March in terms of his average match rating at Brighton this term, as per Whoscored, while his pass completion rate of 86.2% is bettered only by Lewis Dunk and Steven Alzate – the former being a centre-back, and the latter playing roughly a third of the minutes that Bissouma has this term.

Even compared to the Gunners’ current options in the centre of the park, Bissouma has completed 1.2 more dribbles per game than Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny combined.

Smith is right insofar that there can be no guarantees about anything in football, especially when it comes to the transfer market. Nicolas Pepe’s indifferent form since completing a £72 million move to the Emirates Stadium will surely be a stinging reminder for the Gunners in that regard.

But Brighton have got a proven Premier League performer in Bissouma.

When speculation swirls like it is currently, that can sometimes feel like a bit of a double-edged sword.

We’ve also gathered some of the latest and best rumours from around the Premier League: