Brighton's record breaking £35m transfer suffers surprise collapse amid West Ham u-turn

Brighton have been tracking the Ghana international for sometime and had agreed a fee of around £34m with Ajax. It would have been a record deal for Brighton, surpassing the £30m they paid Watford for Joao Pedro at the start of the window.

However, the deal broke down as Kudus – who had also been linked with Chelsea and West Ham – waited for other offers and failed to agree personal terms with the Seagulls.

West Ham are now reportedly closing in on their fourth signing of the summer and it seems the Hammers have pipped Albion and agreed a £38million deal for Kudus.

The trio of new arrivals Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Konstantinos Mavropanos have already given the club a boost, according to their head coach David Moyes.

“I think the new signings have given us a huge lift within the camp over the last week. They have also added lots of different qualities,” he said.

“We can’t judge them too much yet because you are only talking about training and for Edson you are talking about 20 minutes (match time).

“But I think there has been a huge buzz and the result (beating Chelsea 3-1) as well was incredible to win, with where we are and what is expected of Chelsea.

“We are in a good position and we have a bit of a chance to see if we can go and beat Brighton.”

Albion are still looking to add to their squad before the transfer window closes on September 1. They also suffered an injury blow as impressive playmaker Julio Enciso has been ruled out for around four months with a knee injury.

“We will be without Julio for a long period,” said Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi. “It can happen in football, but I am sorry for him because he was playing really well, it is a shame for him.

“Before the injury of Julio, my focus has been on other attackers. Especially now, without Julio, I think we need another player.”