Chelsea ‘admire’ Brighton starlet Evan Ferguson | OneFootball

Chelsea are long-term admirers of Brighton & Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson and a future move for him could be on the cards, according to Standard Sport.

The 19-year-old caught the eye last season after spearheading the Seagulls to their first-ever Europa League appearance, bagging ten goals and five assists in 25 appearances.

He has bagged six goals and an assist in 24 appearances amid competition for a starting spot with Joao Pedro this season.

Ferguson is a special talent and attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United over the summer, but he signed a new deal until 2029, making any transfer difficult.

Brighton also reportedly want to avoid dealing with Chelsea after losing several players, coaches and staff to the Blues.

Chelsea signed Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez from Brighton. They snapped up head coach Graham Potter alongside scout Kyle Macaulay and head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts. Chelsea also hired director Paul Winstanley from Brighton.

They are in the market for reinforcement in the centre-forward department after struggling for goals this term and have Ferguson on their shortlist alongside Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen.

Chelsea have also been linked with Feyenoord hitman Santiago Gimenez, RB Leipzig talent Benjamin Sesko and in-form Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy.

AS Roma attacker Paulo Dybala is also on their radar. The Argentine has been in superb form for Jose Mourinho’s side since joining last summer.

Dybala has notched six goals and six assists in 18 appearances this term, continuing his form from last season, in which he recorded 18 goals and eight assists in 38 appearances.

However, according to TuttoMercatoWeb, any move for Dybala will have to wait until next summer as he is currently sidelined with an injury, and a January move looks unlikely.