EVAN FERGUSON now football most explosive teenager but could have been a postie

You might think the wonderkid wrecking the egos of Premier League defenders would have an overinflated amour-propre of his own. You would be wrong. As Chris Sutton discovered this week, Evan Ferguson is as down to earth as the Crocs he wears on his feet.

An afternoon spent at Brighton’s training ground in Lancing taught Mail Sport’s columnist there is nothing egotistical about this 19-year-old striker from the seaside village of Bettystown in the Republic of Ireland. Nothing flash. Nothing obnoxious. Just a nice, normal, laid-back lad who is taking his rise towards stardom in his stride.

A sizeable stride he has, too. At 6ft 2in with long limbs and broad shoulders, Ferguson is a colossus you could take a walk around and certainly not someone you would wish to mark on a football field. A few defenders have tried to their demise, with Ferguson the first teenager since Wayne Rooney in 2005 to score at least 10 Premier League goals in a calendar year.

Many believe the ambipedal Ferguson is Brighton’s next £100million man in waiting but he is in no rush to prove those predictions right, as evidenced by Friday's news. At 10am, his club announced his new contract until 2029, providing added protection amid increasing interest from Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and more.

‘I’m happy here,’ the softly-spoken striker tells Sutton in his Irish drawl. ‘I played Gaelic. Nothing serious. Just in school. Irish sport. Rougher than football. But this is all I ever wanted to do growing up. I came over here at 16 and this is all I’ve known. They gave me my first opportunity and I’m grateful for that. I’ve signed this new deal and it’s all good news. You see it as a reward for what you’ve done, and it’s