Exclusive: Club want new long-term deal for rumoured Man City transfer target, says expert

Brighton are keen to tie star player Kaoru Mitoma down to a new contract amid transfer rumours linking him with the likes of Manchester City.

That’s according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive CaughtOffside column on Substack, with the transfer expert saying it’s likely we’re going to see plenty of speculation surrounding a talent like Mitoma in the coming weeks and months.

Mitoma has been a joy to watch in his time in the Premier League and looks destined for a career at the very top, meaning he’s surely going to follow the likes of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister in leaving Brighton in a big move in the not-too-distant future.

Still, Romano has responded to Mitoma being linked with Man City and has downplayed talk of the Japan international being on the move for the time being.

In fact, the journalist even says the Seagulls hope to tie Mitoma down to a new contract, so that could make it a bit trickier for the likes of City to poach the forward any time soon.

“I’d like to clear up a few Man City transfer rumours that have been circulating, with some fans asking me in particular about the links with Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma, who has also been mentioned as someone Liverpool are keeping an eye on,” Romano said.

“My understanding is that there is nothing at the moment – I asked today and there is nothing to report on player or club side. Brighton love Mitoma and for sure they want him to stay on a long-term deal, it’s very normal to see top clubs following him but as I said for Evan Ferguson, also for Mitoma we’ll get ten or more links per week but nothing will happen this or next month.

“Mitoma is 100% focused on Brighton and they don’t even want to mention an asking price for the player.”