Brighton have slapped £100million price tags on star duo Joao Pedro and Carlos Baleba in a bid to fend off suitors, talkSPORT understands.
Pedro is believed to be among the strikers Liverpool are eyeing ahead of their summer rebuild and also has admirers at Newcastle – whose talisman goalscorer Alexander Isak is also wanted by the Reds.
Baleba is being touted as the next Brighton star to make a mega-money move from the Sussex coast after being scouted by several top clubs, including Chelsea.
But after announcing a record turnover of £222.4m for the 2023/24 season, thanks mainly to Moises Caicedo’s £115m move to Chelsea, owner Tony Bloom is under no financial pressure to sell.
Sources close to Bloom say he values Pedro, who has 17 goals in 54 Premier League games for Brighton, and Baleba in the same bracket as Caicedo, who fetched a British record fee.
Cherry-picking talent
Bournemouth believe they already have a bargain buy replacement for Liverpool target Milos Kerkez.
Liverpool are front-runners to sign the £45m-rated Kerkez, not least because of his close friendship with Reds midfielder and Hungary teammate Dominik Szoboszlai.
Cherries owner Bill Foley exclusively told talkSPORT last month that he would not stand in any player’s way if they had the chance to better their career.
In the case of Kerkez, they have already filled any potential void after snapping up Argentina youth international left-back Julio Soler in January.
Soler, who only turned 20 in February, cost just £6.6m plus add-ons, and is yet to make his Premier League debut.
Jobe Bellingham eyed by Premier League club
Sunderland face a mass summer exodus if they fail to win a place in the Premier League.
As previously reported by this notebook, teenage star Chris Rigg has been watched regularly by Manchester United and West Ham have now joined the race for the 17-year-old.
Midfielder Jobe Bellingham, brother of England and Real Madrid ace Jude, is firmly on Crystal Palace’s radar.
Meanwhile captain and South Shields native Dan Neil attracted interest from West Ham and Everton in January and is now being scouted by Roma.
Sunderland are virtually guaranteed a play-off place but find themselves nine points behind automatic promotion with seven games remaining.
West Ham’s Paqueta hope
Lucas Paqueta’s legal team are happy with the way his FA spot-fixing trial is progressing.
The hearing into accusations Paqueta deliberately got himself yellow carded on four separate occasions to influence betting outcomes is into a third week, with a verdict expected imminently.
While Hammers boss Graham Potter will make a late decision on whether Paqueta is in the right frame of mind to play against Wolves on Tuesday night, sources have told talkSPORT his representatives are hopeful he will be cleared of any wrong-doing.
If found guilty, the FA are pushing for Paqueta to be hit with a life-time ban.
If acquitted it would open the door for the Brazilian to make a big-money move this summer.
Manchester City were close to paying £80m for Paqueta when the allegations first surfaced in August 2023, while Brazilian side Flamengo also retain an interest in taking him back to
South America.
His West Ham contract runs until the summer of 2027.
