Brighton interested in Ukrainian defender previously wanted by Manchester City and Arsenal

Roberto De Zerbi is interested in signing Mykola Matvienko from his former club Shakhtar Donetsk in the January transfer window.
According to The Athletic, De Zerbi is keen to pursue the left-sided centre-back, with the Ukrainian expected to cost around £17m.According to The Athletic, De Zerbi is keen to pursue the left-sided centre-back, with the Ukrainian expected to cost around £17m.
According to The Athletic, De Zerbi is keen to pursue the left-sided centre-back, with the Ukrainian expected to cost around £17m.

According to The Athletic, the Brighton manager is determined to pursue the left-sided centre-back, who is expected to cost approximately £17m.

Matvienko can play both centre-half and left-back and has previously worked with De Zerbi when he was Shakhtar manager last season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If Brighton were to sign the 26-year-old, the decision would have to go throughout the clubs recruitment model process before a bid was made, meaning that writer David Orstein believes the defender is currently a De Zerbi target, rather then an Albion one.

However, with the January window being De Zerbi’s first chance to make changes to his squad since becoming manager in September, the club is expected to break tradition and make at least one winter signing.

HAVE YOU READ THIS?

The Ukrainian international has also been wanted by Arsenal and Manchester City in the past and it is unclear whether the two Premier League heavyweights will challenge Brighton for Matvienko’s signature.

Whether they do or not, the Athletic is reporting that Albion impressive trading in the past few years and left them them in a strong financial position going into the next window.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

De Zerbi achieved his first win as Brighton manager on Saturday, beating Graham Potter’s Chelsea 4-1 in what was the Seagulls former manager’s first return to the Amex Stadium since leaving the club to join the Blues as head coach.

Goals from Leandro Trossard, Pascal Gross and two own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah ended Albion’s five game winless streak, moving them up to eighth in the league table.