Brighton and Hove Albion are closing in on the signing of Luka Vuskovic.
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Fabrizio Romano reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the 19-year-old centre-back (whom Liverpool reportedly admired) is officially booked in for a medical on the south coast.
The Seagulls agreed a club-record fee of £46m to sign the teenager from Tottenham this summer.
Brighton closing in on Luka Vuskovic transfer
Perhaps Liverpool feel it’s one young centre-back too many at Anfield, having backed two youngsters already in Giovanni Leoni (19) and Jeremy Jacquet (21).
Either way, it seems they’re about to miss out on one of Europe’s most promising centre-half talents for what appears to be a somewhat paltry fee – certainly by Premier League standards!
🔵⚪️🇭🇷 The exclusive story on Luka Vušković to Brighton, set to become official this week.
Medical booked, contract signing to follow as #BHAFC have their new centre back. pic.twitter.com/jLcc142ul9
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2026
It feels like an incredible piece of business for Fabian Hurzeler’s men, after the reported Liverpool transfer target dazzled on loan at Hamburg, helping keep them up in the Bundesliga following their promotion in 2024/25.
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Liverpool have missed a trick over £46m bargain signing
Say what you will about leaving funds aside in case Liverpool can actually complete a mega-money deal for Bradley Barcola.
But if we can’t spare just shy of £50m for one of the globe’s top defensive talents after Ibrahima Konate departed for Real Madrid on a free, then what’s the point?
READ MORE: Scouts dispatched: Liverpool watch towering £12m defender; he recently played in European final
Listen, we’re not unreasonable. Perhaps this was a move the club’s officials sounded out before being told a direct rival for top four football wouldn’t be handed one of Europe’s finest young stars on a platter.
But if we’re talking about a fee of £46m, we’re still talking about a player that was presumably gettable and for a fee well below the previously reported £52.5m-£61.2m range.
Can Liverpool really not afford to do a deal around that ballpark if they also intend to sign Barcola?
That’s severely depressing, if that’s indeed the case.
LFC’s transfer business is confusing. Since when do we need a LW? We need to replace Salah. Barcola isn’t that, and he certainly doesn’t operate effectively off the right. If Gakpo goes, then fine, but we still need an out-and-out RW – a top-class one.
Links with Bowen are OK, but he’s no Salah. Seems like FSG are just ticking over this summer, because the squad needs at least 5 additions – top additions.
So every week we hear that some kind of world class defender is being contacted by another team, yet we’re supposed to get them. Are Liverpool building a team full of defenders? Where would they place those newly-acquired defenders? Move on and focus on getting players who could bring chaos in the opposition penalty area and score