Reports in Spain say Brighton are close to a deal for Leganes striker

Could Brighton’s search for a striker be at an end? Reports from Spain suggest that the Seagulls are closing in on a deal for Leganes striker Youssuf En-Nesyri.

Several verified Spanish journalists and news outlets have said that the Albion have had a €20m bid turned down for the Moroccan international.

Although that price matches En-Nesyri’s release clause, Brighton’s offer involved paying for the deal in two instalments. Leganes will only sell in they receive the full amount up front, leaving the Albion to mull over whether to make a new offer or turn their attentions elsewhere.

Given the absolute tanking that the pound has been on over the last week – Brexit means Brexit – En-Nesyri’s fee will effectively be around £18.5m, making him Brighton’s record buy should a deal be concluded.

What will the Albion be getting for their pennies? The 22-year-old is 6’3 and primarily plays through the middle although he has been used on the left on rare occasions by Leganes.

En-Nesyri scored nine times and registered two assists from 31 appearances in La Liga last season, adding two more goals in three Copa del Rey fixtures.

That represents a decent return for a side who finished 13th. He also became the first ever Leganes player to score a hat-trick in the Spanish top flight in their 3-0 win over Real Betis last October.

En-Nesyri has been capped 21 times by Morocco, scoring six goals. One of those came in the 2018 World Cup, an absolutely stonking header against Spain in the group stage which highlights his aerial prowess.

Because of that, comparisons to Glenn Murray will be inevitable. En Nesyri is of similar build to the Albion’s second highest ever goal scorer, loves a header and certainly looks a much closer fit to Murray than Florin Andone is.

He’s obviously going to have more pace than Murray, but his goals-to-game ratio isn’t as impressive. En-Nesyri has struck 14 times in 69 La Liga outings for Leganes and his previous club Malaga compared to Murray who has 25 in 73 Premier League games for the Albion.

Perhaps more interestingly are the similarities between En-Nesyri and Oliver McBurnie, Graham Potter’s star striker at Swansea City.

Both are around the same height, they both prefer to play through the middle but can drift wide when required in a fluid front line and they are both of similar age.

If Potter wanted a McBurnie-style forward in order to try and replicate his setup and success from the Liberty Stadium, then En-Nesyri would certainly fit the bill.

Brighton aren’t the first Premier League club to be interested in his services either. En-Nesyri was linked with a move to Arsenal earlier in the summer while West Ham United had him watched before breaking their club record to sign Sebastien Haller for £45m from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Should the Albion complete a deal for En Nesyri, we’ll also have the club’s social media accounts being bombarded by Moroccan football fans wanting to follow one of their star players to look forward to.

En-Nesyri has 533,000 Instagram followers, which could make him an Alireza Jahanbakhsh Mark II off the pitch. Let’s hope he’s slightly better on it.