Brighton ‘determined’ to secure signing in coming weeks – Players days at club ‘numbered’

Brighton and Hove Albion are ‘determined’ to win the race for Boca Juniors youngster Valentin Barco and will pay his release if they need to.

That’s according to Planeta Boca Juniors, who say the young defender’s time at the club is coming to an end and he will be on the move.

Barco has been making waves in Argentina with his performances for Boca over the last year or so, which have seen scouts from across Europe pick up on him.

There is particularly strong interest in the Premier League, where Brighton and Manchester City have both been credited with an interest and even tried to sign him in the summer.

The left-back elected to stay where he was at that point but that has not killed off the interest from both parties and reports over the last few months have indicated that they were still pushing to secure his signature.

Indeed, earlier this month it was made clear that Brighton had accelerated their efforts and talks were already underway over a five-year deal.

Planeta Boca Juniors say the same, reporting that Brighton are ‘determined’ to sign the youngster and that a formal offer is expected to be made sooner rather than later.

If Boca elect not to accept this offer, the Premier League side have instead decided to execute his $10m release clause to get him. Either way, the 19-year-old would ‘have his days numbered at the club’.

Now, this is practically the same information from earlier this month but its clear in Argentina they believe Barco is going to end up at Brighton, who are pushing to get a deal done one way or another.