Other than the arrivals of Mathew Ryan and Pascal Groß this summer, Brighton haven’t exactly splashed the cash as they prepare for a tough season in the Premier League.
Unlike fellow promotees Huddersfield, who have already spent close to £40m on recruits, Chris Hughton’s side appear to be taking a more restrained approach to their squad bolstering, perhaps for good reason.
One of the reported targets was Dijon’s Lois Diony, who had also caught the eye of Bournemouth and Saint-Etienne in France, and it appears the latter of the two have won the race.
Told to pay at least €10m for the striker by the Ligue 1 side’s president, Friday morning saw Les Verts announce on their website that a deal between the two sides and the player had been agreed, as they saw off ‘competition from France and abroad’.
Furthermore, local journalist Rémi Chevrot, who works for Dijon-based outlet Le Bien Public, reported around 9am that Lois Diony would be having his medical with Saint-Etienne this very morning.
Exclu : Lois Diony du DFCO va s’engager avec Saint-Etienne. Il passe sa visite médicale ce matin.
— Rémi Chevrot (@ChevrotRemi) 7 July 2017
This was confirmed by the club, who explained the deal was agreed ‘subject to a medical’, which the player would undergo on Friday afternoon and Saturday.
The amount of the fee paid to obtain the player’s services has yet to be made public, but if it is less than €10m, a fee the president was said to be expecting from Premier League clubs, then it might well be Brighton were never all that interested after all.
Diony could have just been one of Brighton’s many options, who eventually decided not to pursue a deal any further.
