Brighton chief outlines how the board will keep Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City targets at the club

Albion are currently having a brilliant season under head coach Roberto De Zerbi. The Seagulls have surprised many and find themselves in the hunt for Champions league football towards the end of this campaign.

Brighton are six points of fourth-placed Tottenham in seventh – with two games in hand on Antonio Conte’s side.

The south coast outfit also have the chance to win the first piece of major silverware in the club’s history, after they booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final with a 5-0 win over Grimsby Town on Sunday, March 19.

As expected, the team’s form has lead to many top European clubs expressing an interest of some of Albion’s top talent. Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Karou Mitoma have all be linked with moves away this summer to some of the continent’s best teams.

When asked on talkSPORT how he intended to keep these players at the Amex Stadium, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber explained: “We definitely know that all the best players want to play at the highest level, in the best competitions that they can.

"The best way we can do that is by keeping our best players at the club. We know if we can achieve those things, then that can give us the best chance of keeping those players because they will be playing in the best competitions.”

So far this year, Brighton fans have been delighted to see three key players commit their long-term future to the club. Chelsea and Arsenal target Moises Caicedo signed a new deal which would keep at the club until June 2027, experienced midfielder Adam Lallana agreed to extended his stay for another season, while Solly March penned a three-and-a-half-year contract on Friday (March 17).

Speaking on these deals, Barber said: “We are going to work as hard as we can. We try and put our players on to the best contacts we can afford to put them on. We invest in them and we have great coaches and facilities. We try and give them an opportunity and a pathway to come through the first team as young players if they are good enough to play.”

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The club has seen a number of young players thriving in the first-team this season. Evan Ferguson has stolen many headlines with his goal scoring performances, but youngsters Jeremy Sarmiento and Jan Paul van Hecke have also thrived whilst playing in De Zerbi’s team.

Barber praised the Italian coach for his bravery in picking these young players, saying: “Roberto is very brave. Not only in the way he plays and sets up. But also in the teams he picks and the youngsters that he uses.

"We think we have as good a chance as anyone for a club of our size to keeping our best talent for as long as we can, but we are also realistic that at some point we will lose that talent.

“That’s when our model kicks in and that's when our recruitment needs to be as good as it has been over the last few years to keep replacing that and keeping that talent.”