Brighton’s interest in Boca Juniors midfielder Milton Delgado appears to be facing plenty of competition, with the race for the 21-year-old getting rather crowded.
The Seagulls have been linked with the Argentine youngster before and are now back on a list of interested clubs. Porto are the latest side to join them, while Bologna, Napoli, Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor are also named.
That’s according to El Intransigente, who say Porto have Delgado on their radar and Boca Juniors are well aware of the attention surrounding him.
Brighton have plenty of company
Brighton aren’t the only Premier League side we’ve seen linked with Delgado. Chelsea and Bournemouth were both named by ESPN Argentina in August. We have also covered previous interest from West Ham.
That makes four English clubs to have been dragged into the story at one stage or another. Then there is the growing list from elsewhere in Europe.
Porto are the newest addition, and El Intransigente say Boca president Juan Roman Riquelme has no plans to make a departure easy.
The Argentine outlet puts Delgado’s asking price at around €12.8m (£11.1m). However, ESPN Argentina previously reported a release clause close to €21.3m (£18.5m), so there is clearly some disagreement over how much the operation would cost.
What is much clearer is Boca’s reluctance to sell. They rejected an €8.6m (£7.5m) offer from Atlanta United in August. Trabzonspor had already tried with an €8m (£6.9m) proposal before that. El Intransigente even claim a Mexican club knocked their door earlier in the summer. Neither approach was enough.
‘He’s a beast, a Pac-Man’
Delgado now has 75 senior appearances for Boca, with one goal and four assists. He’s currently recovering from a muscular problem suffered against Velez in the Copa Argentina, but that hasn’t stopped the transfer talk.
Former Boca midfielder Blas Giunta has also provided a rather colourful description of why so many clubs are watching him.
“I’ve known Milton since the U14s. He’s a beast, a Pac-Man,” Giunta said. “When he starts going into challenges like that, I love it. But he can play more.”
That pretty much sums up Delgado’s appeal. He’s aggressive, covers plenty of ground and loves winning the ball, but there’s more to his game than simply running around and tackling people.
Brighton have built a reputation for spotting young South American talent early. In Delgado’s case, though, they certainly wouldn’t be alone at the table. The queue keeps getting longer.
