Brighton youngster Simon Adingra attracting Bundesliga & Ligue 1 transfer interest
Brighton youngster Simon Adingra is attracting transfer interest from clubs in Germany and France following a fine season on loan with Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, 90min understands.
Adingra was previously developed by the famous Right to Dream Academy in Ghana and was spotted by Brighton in action for Danish club Nordsjaelland.
The Ivory Coast winger, who earned his first senior call-up in March, made the switch to Brighton last summer – he is among the many international talents the Seagulls have collected in recent times.
Adingra was quickly sent on loan to Union, the feeder club where Kaoru Mitoma spent last season before going on to become a regular at the Amex Stadium in 2022/23. The relationship between the teams was established when Brighton chairman Tony Bloom became majority shareholder in 2018.
For Union, who were only promoted back to the Belgian top flight in 2021 after 48 years away and immediately went on to finish second, Adingra has been a big hit.
READ MORE FROM THE 90MIN TALKING TRANSFERS TEAM
feed
The 21-year-old has made 48 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and providing a further 14 assists from his role as either a left winger or central striker.
Nine of those outings were in the Europa League, with Union reaching the quarter-finals in their first season of European competition since facing Juventus in the older Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1964.
Union were knocked out by Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the last eight, but Adingra left an impression on the Bundesliga side. 90min understands that Leverkusen are keen on signing on the Brighton player, as are Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt. The interest hasn’t been limited to Germany either, with Ligue 1 trio Marseille, Monaco and Lyon also keeping an eye on him.
However, from Brighton’s perspective, there is no desire to sell. Adingra has been informed by the club that there is a long-term vision for his future with them, which includes becoming a member of the first-team fairly soon. Indeed, the plan for the coming months is that he will be with the Brighton squad for pre-season ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
LISTEN NOW
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss the possibility of Neymar joining Newcastle, Jude Bellingham's decision on his future and Lionel Messi leaving PSG.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!