Hürzeler to Brighton ‘stretches like chewing gum’ – Seagulls paying ‘astonishing’ figure

Brighton and Hove Albion have upped their bid for St Pauli manager Fabian Hürzeler to push a deal over the line.

That’s according to BILD, while MOPO report that all signs are pointing towards an agreement being struck between the two clubs.

BILD report that the negotiations between the two sides advanced on Thursday and while there is nothing official yet, all signs point towards it ending positively.

The two sides are believed to be closer to a deal and that may be because Brighton have upped their bid from €7.5m to €9m.

That’s a significant sum to say the least and BILD point out how even Jose Mourinho’s move to Real Madrid cost €8m. He made that move as a treble winner and when he went to Chelsea from Porto as a Champions League winner, that cost the Blues €6m.

Prices have naturally risen since those days, but the fact Brighton are paying such a figure ‘is astonishing’, particularly when Bayern Munich have paid €12m for Vincent Kompany.

MOPO, meanwhile, say the situation ‘stretches like chewing gum’. According to them there have been increasing signs of an imminent agreement since Wednesday evening.

That had seemed a long way off as Brighton had started talks far away from St Pauli’s initial demands, with the German side determined to secure as high a figure as possible.

That was seen as a piece of cake for Brighton, but they played hard ball, with MOPO even suggesting they thought they could get Hürzeler on the cheap.

Instead, it appears they will now be paying a princely sum for him, one even higher than Mourinho once cost the biggest team in the world.