BRIGHTON have moved ahead of Manchester United and Arsenal as well as a raft of other suitors for Olympiacos wonderkid Babis Kostoulas.
And the Seagulls could sign the teenage sensation as early as Wednesday.
Kostoulas, 18, burst onto the scene this season, which saw him amassing six goals and one assist in 21 league appearances with the Greek champions.
The versatile striker played a crucial role in the Piraeus outfit winning the Double and making it to the Last 16 of the Europa League, where they finished in the top eight during the league phase.
That came after another stunning 2023-24 campaign that saw the Greece Under-21 international leading the club’s Under-19s to Uefa Youth League glory, which marked the first ever European trophy won by a Greek team.
SunSport reported the forward’s stunning performances have led to interest from a number of Premier League clubs, such as Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa.
United even made contact with Olympiacos but have also been facing competition from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, AC Milan and clubs from Spain – while there were also links with Real Madrid.
But it is Brighton who have stolen a march on all of the above and are willing to splash the cash on the young prospect.
SunSport can reveal Wednesday will be “crucial” regarding Kostoulas’ future and the Seagulls’ hopes of landing him.
Olympiacos won’t sell on the cheap and will insist on a major resale clause for their star player, who has a contract until 2030.
Negotiations have reached a fee of €40million (£34m), which Fabian Hurzeler’s side are currently not willing to meet despite their willingness to pay good money.
SunSport, though, understand Kostoulas’ fee could climb even higher to €50-55m (£42-46m).
That would make Kostoulas the most expensive Greek transfer of all time as he would eclipse Kostas Manolas’ £30m move from Roma to Napoli in 2019.
Brighton recently completed the second most expensive Greek transfer of all time when they landed Stefanos Tzimas from Nuremberg following a £22m deal.
That would see the Seagulls continuing their impressive run of snatching some of the world’s best young talent after signing the likes of Yves Bissouma, Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and more.
Kostoulas is among Olympiacos’ biggest wonderkids along with Konstantis Tzolakis and Christos Mouzakitis, who is also targeted by Brighton as SunSport recently reported.
But Brighton face competition from Arsenal, Man Utd, Villa, Dortmund, Milan, Juventus, Wolves, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid for midfielder Mouzakitis, 18.
Tzolakis, 22, on the other hand, has been ranked as the goalkeeper that’s most ready for a top-five league competition under the age of 23 following stunning performances in the Europe League and last season’s Conference League.
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