Brighton and Hove Albion have doubled their bid for Independiente youngster Alan Velasco, but it is still not enough to get the 18-year-old.
That’s according to TyC Sports, who say Brighton’s current $10m bid is not enough for El Rojo to part with the Argentine.
They explain that while the squad is on leave after the end of the season, Independiente’s directors ‘began to move’ in the transfer market.
At the top of their list of priorities is Velasco, who is the ‘jewel of the institution’ and is being followed by clubs in the Premier League.
Brighton are the ones leading the race and ‘launched’ a bid on Wednesday, offering around $10m for the winger, twice as much as they offered back in April when they made their first ‘formal’ bid for him.
That figure is still ‘insufficient’, though, as those in charge at Avellaneda have made it clear they want $15m to let Velasco go.
That’s because he is tied down until a deal until 2023, in which they gave him a significant salary increase and included a termination clause of $23.5m.
Whether Brighton are willing to up their bid again isn’t mentioned, but it seems they are keen and pushing as hard as they can to get a deal done ahead of the competition.