Why do Albion want to break their transfer record for another centre back?

According to various reports over the last 48 hours or so, Brighton have decided that they want to make Bristol City defender Adam Webster his third summer signing.

It would take a club-record fee to prise the 24-year-old away from Ashton Gate, with 90min reporting that the Albion could be willing to pay in excess of £20m for Webster’s services.

Ask most Brighton supporters the areas of the squad that could do with such investment, and centre back would probably be near the bottom of the list.

We rely on a bloke who is going to be celebrating his 36th birthday next month to score 36% of our Premier League goals. Martin Montoya is our only senior right back following Bruno’s retirement and a traditional holding midfielder wouldn’t go amiss either.

Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy have held a monopoly on the centre back positions for the past three seasons. They’re ably backed up by Dan Burn, Matt Clarke and Leon Balogun.

The talent pool runs deeper than that with Ben White already earning rave reviews with his early performances for Championship title favourites The Leeds United. Leo Ostigard is on a season long loan at St Pauli and also highly rated.

Why then have the Albion decided to spend the biggest fee in Brighton history on another centre back?

The club are preparing for Dunk’s departure
Harry Maguire to Manchester United is the transfer saga that has been rumbling on all summer long. Should United stop dicking around and finally table an acceptable bid for the Leicester City defender, then it could start a domino effect across the transfer market.

Maguire moving to Old Trafford will leave the Foxes needing a replacement, a position for which Dunk would fit the bill nicely. Should Brendan Rodgers decide the Albion captain is the man he wants to take to the King Power Stadium, it would represent a very attractive move for Dunk.

Leicester have an excellent manager, a young squad packed with talent and are spending wisely. With Chelsea under a transfer ban and a rookie manager, Arsenal only able to offer magic beans for players and plenty of doubts about United under Solksjaer, there is a real opportunity for a club like Leicester to crack the top six this season. Not to mention the improved chances for Dunk of adding to his solitary England cap.

Should Dunk decide he wants to up sticks for the East Midlands – and nobody could blame him if he did – then having a ready made replacement in Webster already signed would lessen the blow of losing him.

It would also represent the sort of forward planning we very rarely see at the Albion – see replacing future Premier League winner Leonardo Ulloa with Chris O’Grady.

Potter is going to play three at the back
Brighton’s best pre-season performance and result to date came in the weekend’s 4-0 victory away at Birmingham City – the first game in which Potter has used a back three in public since his appointment.

Yes, it was only against opponents who most bookies expect to finish fourth bottom of the Championship this season. And yes, they did have Greggs’ most valued customer in goal for them.

But even so, the way in which the Albion controlled the game was impressive. Maty Ryan was a virtual spectator while at the other end, it was a positive attacking showing that could have been more had David Stockdale not made some impressive saves in-between thinking about what side to get with his KFC Bargain Bucket later that evening.

If three at the back is going to be the way that Potter decides to go, then maybe six senior centre backs will be required. After all, Balogun made some pretty catastrophic mistakes in a number of his appearances last season, Clarke is unproven above League One level and we are yet to see Burn play in the Premier League – although he did impress in his FA Cup appearances after arriving from Wigan Athletic in January.

There may be less question marks about who joins Dunk and Duffy in a back three if it’s a £20m signing who was seriously impressive in the Championship last season.

Clarke is heading out on loan
When Potter made Clarke his first summer signing for £3.5m from Portsmouth, we assumed the new arrival was being bought with the intention of challenging for a first team spot.

That may not actually be the case. Reports have linked Clarke with a season long loan to Frank Lampard’s Derby County, who are lacking a left footed centre back following the end of one-time Brighton player Fikayo Tomori’s loan from Chelsea.

At 22, Clarke probably does need regular first team football to continue his development. He’s more than proved himself in League One already, so there is little point in going back to that level.

But a move to the Championship – either with the Rams or another second tier outfit – could be beneficial for the Albion, Clarke and whichever club he ends up at.

Webster is that good, the Albion want to buy him regardless
There could of course be no reason for signing Clarke for £20m other than the fact he’s that damn good. We’ve been here before not so long ago.

It seems mad now, but when Chris Hughton made Duffy the Albion’s record buy for £4m from Blackburn Rovers many people questioned if it was necessary.

We had pre-heart trouble Connor Goldson on the books and Uwe Hunemeier to go alongside Dunk. Young Rob Hunt was also highly thought of, so surely the money being spent on Duffy could be better invested elsewhere? Shows how little most of us know.

Webster played 47 times for a City side who finished in eighth spot in the Championship last season and he’s represented England at Under 18 and Under 19 level.

Potter may want him simply because he will improve our defence, even if it that seems a difficult idea to get our heads around.

The £20 fee may seem astronomical, but that’s the state of the market at the minute. Webster is young enough to improve, he’s English and when Plucky Little Bournemouth can sell a back up centre back in Tyrone Mings to Aston Villa for the same amount, perhaps we shouldn’t baulk too much – especially as Webster could be worth a lot more several years down the line if prices continue to inflate.

He also has the added bonus of coming from a great family. Webster’s sisters Rosie and Sophie are both bloody fit, dad Kevin can fix your car and mum Sally has a heart of gold even though she has spent time in jail for fraud.