Roberto De Zerbi has admitted that Brighton tried to sign a player who left Manchester City in the summer.
Brighton are one of the most forward-thinking recruiters in Europe.
In addition, the Seagulls also seem to have quite an ambitious project in place.
De Zerbi says Brighton tried to sign player who left City in the summer
As a result, Roberto De Zerbi’s side seem unafraid to approach some of the biggest clubs to sign their players.
Brighton have done so in the past when signing Billy Gilmour from Chelsea as well as Adam Lallana and James Milner from Liverpool.
In the summer, the club tried to once again but failed in their pursuit.
Roberto De Zerbi revealed that Brighton tried to sign Cole Palmer before he departed Manchester City to join Chelsea.
De Zerbi said via BeanymanSports 2: “Listen, we tried to bring him at the beginning of the last transfer market session last summer. We thought he could be a top player.”
“The qualities of [Cole] Palmer are clear, I think for everybody but not now, when he played for City, Man City. And this season, he’s playing very well, scoring a lot of goals, he’s a problem for us tomorrow because he can start from winger position and come inside or number 10 as well.”
“The quality of Palmer is very high.”
Roberto De Zerbi was also asked how close Cole Palmer was to signing for Brighton.
“No, I don’t know if we spoke but we spoke to a lot of players. I didn’t know the real situation, the real negotiation.”
A loan to Brighton for Cole Palmer would have been ideal for City
If Roberto De Zerbi and his Brighton side signed Cole Palmer on loan, Manchester City would likely have been delighted.
The £42.5 million (BBC Sport) man would have progressed a lot under De Zerbi’s guidance and in a team that play possession-based football.
The Englishman would also have experienced how it feels to play regularly in the Europa League.
However, Palmer was perhaps swayed by a club of Chelsea’s stature trying to sign him and was hoping for a permanent transfer to a top team anyway.
Manchester City have well and truly developed a top talent in Cole Palmer, seeing the glowing terms with which Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has spoken about him.