Brighton CEO estimates when they would consider selling Evan Ferguson

Understandably, they aren't keen to let him go.

Brighton's chief executive Paul Barber has made an estimation on when the club would even consider selling their star striker Evan Ferguson. The young Irishman has been linked with a move away to big clubs following his very impressive debut season in the Premier League last year. The Irish goal machine has shown real maturity and is developing at an alarming rate, so the longer his progress continues in this trajectory, the more expensive he is going to be. Club's such as Manchester United, and more recently, Tottenham Hotspur, have reportedly shown an interest in the county Meath native. Tottenham have sold their captain and talisman Harry Kane to Bayern Munich this summer, so they are keen to get a replacement but Barber claims that Brighton will be holding on to their main man for a long time. When talking on Talksport  Barber said jokingly: "In Evan's case, it will be in at least five year's time.

"It's going to be a collective decision but it's driven by the technical staff and we're relying on them to make those judgements regarding the players' development.

"There are times when it's better for us to keep a player in and around our first team group, training with us and getting the odd first team appearance from the bench or in cup games, while on other occasions it's better for them to go out on loan in Europe and others it's better for them to stay in this country and be somewhere where we can keep a far closer eye on them. "It's a combined effort, it's a team effort, but ultimately Roberto De Zerbi is making the big calls when it comes to the playing squad." Related links:

• Evan Ferguson linked with "British record transfer" as Jamie Carragher praises Ireland star
• Gary Lineker makes interesting Evan Ferguson suggestion as he scores on Premier League opening day
• Evan Ferguson labelled"incredible" by former Chelsea and Spurs man