Brighton & Hove Albion are renowned for hoovering up some of football’s best young talent and it appears they are now in a battle with Leeds United for another one.
The Seagulls have long been admired by pundits, fans and other clubs with how they operate, recruiting top youngsters early, blooding them into the first-team, before selling for big profit.
Moises Caicedo, Yves Bissouma, Alexis Mac Allister and Marc Cucurella are clear examples of that in recent years, while Leeds know all too well following the saga with Ben White.
It is certainly a strategy that Leeds can learn from and in fairness, it does appear as though they could turn some big profit for players themselves this summer.
Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto are both attracting big money interest having been bought for small fees. They key is then to replace them and ensure you do not get weaker, which Brighton have done very well.
Leeds battling Brighton for forward Edmund Baidoo
As mentioned, two of Leeds’ best and most sellable players are wanted elsewhere this summer in Summerville and Gnonto.
After Leeds’ failure to win promotion, this was always bound to happen, and those in the recruitment team alongside Daniel Farke will need to ensure they identify suitable replacements for if they depart.
Leeds have tenuously been linked with attacking players such as Callum O’Hare, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Couhaib Driouech so far, but nothing concrete has yet materialised.
And according to Sports World Ghana, Leeds have another attacking player on their radar in Sogndal Fotball winger Edmund Baidoo.
It is said that Baidoo has been ‘making waves’ in the second tier of Norwegian football this season, which actually runs at a different time to England, having started in April.
Brighton and Leeds have both reportedly made contact with Baidoo’s representatives, but it is the former who are currently leading the charge.
Celtic and Club Brugge are also in the mix for the 18-year-old, who has a contract at Sogndal Fotball until 2027.
Who is reported Leeds target Edmund Baidoo?
Baidoo is primarily a right-winger and already has eight goals and six assists across 17 appearances in all competitions, which is what has attracted interest from Brighton and Leeds.
This is actually his first season in professional football having been signed from Ghana in the winter earlier this year, after impressing at a training camp with Sogndal.
Given how quickly Baidoo has managed to settle into European football, all be it at a lower level than the Championship, it is no surprise he is already winning plenty of suitors.