Standard Liege are breathing a temporary sigh of relief after a lack of interest in Brighton and Hove Albion’s Steven Alzate meant he returned to the club on loan.
That’s according to Voetbal Nieuws, who say the Belgian side ‘breathed a sigh of relief’ after Alzate returned from Brighton temporarily.
They explain that the defensive midfielder was in England to recuperate from an injury with parent club Brighton but, in the meantime, numerous reports had the Seagulls shopping him around the market looking a transfer.
They seemingly wanted to move Alzate on this month and get a fee for him, with his contract expiring in the summer and no intentions of signing him to a new deal.
He was reportedly offered to Rangers, Valencia and several other clubs but ‘no one has taken the plunge so far’.
Brighton can still recall him from Standard this month but that’s yet to happen and, so, he’s returned to Standard, much to their delight.
He’s established himself as a key player for the club and they had feared losing him, so his return is ‘extremely good news’ for new manager Ivan Leko. Indeed, they believe he could be their ‘best winter signing’.
A lot can still happen with half of the January transfer window still to come but with nobody seemingly biting at Brighton’s offers yet, Standard consider Alzate’s return a welcome relief.
