Brighton player is club’s ‘object of desire’ – Ideally want him signed before end of July

Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen is the ‘object of desire’ for SK Sturm Graz as they look for a new goalkeeper this summer.

That’s according to Kleine Zeitung, who say the Austrian side are eyeing up a loan deal for the 23-year-old this summer.

They explain that a new goalkeeper is ‘being sought intensively’ by Sturm, alongside a right-back, and the trail for the former leads to the Netherlands.

The ‘object of desire’ for them is likely to be Scherpen, who joined Brighton in a €5m deal in 2021 but has spent the last two seasons on loan in Belgium, with KV Oostende, and then the Netherlands with Vitesse.

He’s unlikely to be handed his chance to impress at Brighton next season, with Jason Steele impressing last season when brought in by Roberto de Zerbi, Robert Sanchez a more than capable deputy and highly rated Bart Verbruggen on his way to the club this summer.

Another loan deal, therefore, looks very likely and Kleine Zeitung say it could in fact be ‘imminent’ as Sturm’s sporting director Andreas Schicker has already revealed they won’t look for a permanent deal.

They would ideally like the new goalkeeper to make his debut in the ÖFB Cup at SAK on July 21^st, so they need a deal done before then.

Scherpen is the ‘ideal fit’ stylistically as well as in terms of age and it seems the plan is to push for a loan move sooner rather than later.