Fabrizio Romano confirms Liverpool 'target' set to sign for Brighton after Bundesliga form

Liverpool are set to miss out on a fantastic prospect in Mainz youngster Brajan Gruda, who is set to sign for Brighton.

The 19-year-old has only had one full year in the Bundesliga but he has impressed greatly in just a short amount of time. Previously this summer, according to German outlet BILD, Liverpool were linked with a move as well as Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Aston Villa. A fee of £43m was said to be one figure that was needed to prise him away but a £25m deal has been agreed.

Confirmed by Fabrizio Romano on X, the youngster is said to join the Seagulls after just one year at the top level. Romano wrote: ‘Brajan Gruda to Brighton, here we go! Deal in place for German midfielder to leave Mainz and join #BHAFC project. £25m fee verbally agreed and long term deal for Gruda, set to sign soon as Hürzeler wanted him. As revealed weeks ago, Gruda was dream target for Brighton.’

In what is a typically smart move by Brighton, he is set to join a strong squad as well as numerous shrewd summer signings. Yakuba Minteh joined from Newcastle United and ex-Arne Slot favourite Mats Wieffer arrived from Feyenoord as the club look to build to a new future after Roberto De Zerbi’s exit - and the new era under Fabian Hürzeler will be interesting as he is set to be the youngest manager in the league at just 31 years old.

While Liverpool already have a packed squad full of attacking talent, it would have been difficult to see where Bruda would have factored in. Similar in a way to Fabio Carvalho, he would have struggled for regular minutes but his first season in Germany saw him rank extremely high across important metrics - as well as ranking higher than established figures such as Leroy Sane.

He ranked at the 95th percentile - or above - for progressive carries, successful dribbles, key passes and offensive actions which bettered Sane’s figures. It’s clear his potential as a versatile attacker will be tailor made for Brighton but especially off that right wing. Incidentally, he could have been a great back-up and alternate for Mohamed Salah given that the right-wing is somewhat of a problem area if the Egyptian is missing.

Still, as we’ve seen countless times in the past with Leandro Trossard, Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and many others, these talented signings picked up for smaller fees often end up leaving for considerable fees in the future - and if Gruda can build on his start to professional football then he could end up at a club like Liverpool in the future.