"£100m player" - Sky Sports pundit urges Leeds United to forget ambitious Brighton swoop | OneFootball

Don Goodman spoke exclusively to Football League World about Brighton's Evan Ferguson, who has reportedly earned second-tier interest

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes Brighton and Hove Albion's Evan Ferguson would be a "perfect addition" for Leeds United or Sunderland, but he's not expecting the highly-rated striker to head down to the Championship.

Ferguson, who is still aged just 20, was widely regarded among the hottest young properties in world football a little over a year ago. The 18-cap Republic of International burst onto the scene during the 2022/23 campaign, in which he scored ten goals across all competitions to earn interest from some of English football's biggest clubs.

Only last November, it was reported that the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal were all keen on a move for Ferguson, who was then valued north of £100 million by Seagulls. Ferguson's trajectory, however, has just dipped somewhat in the last twelve months or so, and he's now being lined up for a January loan exit after falling out of favour under Fabian Hurzeler.

The powerful striker has started just two of Brighton's 16 Premier League matches to date and has recently been linked with a loan move to top-flight rivals Fulham. Ferguson, who is said to want a loan move away from the south coast in a bid to gain regular football elsewhere, has previously attracted reported interest from the likes of Leicester City and Burnley as well as Leeds United.

However, the chances of Ferguson making the drop down to Championship level do appear slim, even though he'd surely represent a dream signing for sides such as Leeds firmly in the promotion reckoning ahead of the January window.

Leeds United, Evan Ferguson swoop played down by Don Goodman

Ferguson arguably ticks all the boxes for Leeds, who are currently second in the league but could benefit from increased firepower in order to push over the promotion line come May.

He could even be a good option for promotion rivals Sunderland, who have been one of the division's most prolific attacking sides but find themselves perhaps too reliant on Zenit St. Petersburg loanee Wilson Isidor up top.

However, Goodman believes that a top-flight move - either to a direct divisional rival or an overseas club - is a more likely course of action for Ferguson, who he doesn't expect to move to the Championship even if big sides like Leeds and Sunderland show an interest.

Goodman exclusively told Football League World, via CoinPoker: "Yes, I do think Evan Ferguson would be the perfect addition to Leeds United or Sunderland.

"But do I think he'll end up in the Championship? No, I don't.

"Just 18 months ago, he was being lauded as a £100 million player. So I can't see him playing in the Championship no matter how big a club is.

"If a loan move is an option for him, you'd suggest a loan move to another Premier League club would be logical, as long as he gets minutes, which is key for him. Perhaps he could move to Europe."

Leeds United must be realistic in January transfer window

A signing like Ferguson would prove a significant statement of intent, of course, but Leeds should just be careful about potentially being too ambitious in January, to the extent that it may prove counterproductive, as other potential targets could be missed.

Leeds made late, well-documented efforts for Emi Buendia, James McAtee and Fabio Carvalho back in the summer following the departure of Georginio Rutter, who is yet to be directly replaced.

The reality was that signing any of those players in the summer was always going to prove a tall order in the first place and there was a sense of frustration that the Whites failed to avert their attention to more realistic and attainable targets, even though striking a deal for somebody of the ilk of Buendia in particular would have been mightily-impressive.

There's nothing wrong with aiming high and Leeds certainly cannot be accused of lacking ambition as far as transfer recruitment goes, but they do need to have balance and realism. It's difficult to see Ferguson in the second-tier this term, so they could be better served by plotting more realistic moves if Daniel Farke is intent on bolstering his striking options.