Brighton agree to a record-breaking £30m move for Watford’s Joao Pedro…as Roberto De Zerbi looks to take a more active role in the Seagulls’ summer recruitment
- The Brazilian 21-year-old has been featuring for Watford since January 2020
- Should the signing go ahead, Pedro will smash record set by Adam Webster
- Pedro is reported to have turned down a move to Newcastle last summer
Brighton have agreed a £30m move for Watford forward Joao Pedro ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.
Should the proposed deal go ahead the 21-year-old is set to become the club’s record transfer for £10m more than the Seagulls’ fee for Adam Webster in his 2019 move from Bristol City.
As the window has not yet opened nothing has been signed between the two parties, however, it looks as if Brighton’s careful courtship of the starlet has paid dividends.
Pedro was previously the focus of Newcastle’s attentions, with the Tyneside club offering the same price for the Brazilian last summer only to find themselves snubbed.
Serie A side AC Milan were also said to be interested in making a play for the Brazilian.
Joao Pedro (right) is set to join Brighton this summer in a £30m move from Watford
Roberto De Zerbi played it cool when questioned about his potential new player on Friday
The versatile forward has played for Watford since securing his UK work permit in January 2020, after moving through the youth set-up and into the first team at Fluminense.
This season, Pedro is Watford’s top scorer, with 11 goals and four assists for the Championship outfit, who have struggled after last year’s Premier League relegation, and currently languish in 13th.
But the player’s quality has been undeniable throughout, and when queried about the proposed move on Friday, his future manager Roberto De Zerbi was coy but praised Pedro as ‘a big, big player’.
‘I don’t know Joao Pedro,’ De Zerbi teased when asked about the rumoured transfer. ‘No, Joao Pedro is a big, big player but I don’t know if it’s close or not.
‘He’s a great player.
‘We are a very good team, we can improve, but it’s not the right moment to speak too much about the transfer market.’
De Zerbi is looking to play a much larger role in Brighton’s transfer prospects and the Italian is due to meet with the club’s owner Tony Bloom at the end of the season to discuss how the club can continue to challenge at the highest level.
Brighton currently sit eighth, their hopes of European competition next season having received a knock following Wednesday’s shock defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Brighton will have to rebound from a troubling week following losses against United and Forest
A loss on penalties to Manchester United in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley snuffed out their hopes of silverware this season, but the club hierarchy will likely already be planning for a significant summer rebuild.
This will be spurred on by likely exits: World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister has been heavily linked to United, and Moises Caicedo has also been tipped to move on, despite signing a bumper new contract in February.
Brighton will face Wolves at home on Saturday in the first of their remaining eight games until the season’s end.
Just five points off sixth-placed Villa, the Seagulls have three games in hand on a number of their rivals for European places.
