Evan Ferguson - Top Irish Prospect

lex talionis

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He would be smart to stay at Brighton for the next few years until he cements himself as a top player. They're an excellent club, it's a low pressure environment but one where they play the right way and develop players, have a top manager, have a young squad around him that has arguably performed at top 4 level all season. No reason why they can't seriously challenge for CL places next season just like they are this season.
CL qualification is a bridge too far for Brighton.

Even if assume Arsenal is having a freak season right now, they're a near-lock for top four the next 2-3 seasons. City...nuff said.

United? Sure, we could dip but we're heading in the right direction under ETH and with new ownership on the way we're not dropping out of the top four.

Liverpool and Chelsea? I see Liverpool coming back. Chelsea, possibly not, but probably yes.

Newcastle and Spurs? Newcastle are on the up, but I could see Brighton climbing above them but you'd get pretty good odds on such a bet. Spurs? So hard to say what the future holds for Spurs, but assuming they sort out of their shit (no guarantee of that happening, of course), they're in the conversation for top four, although in the end I see the Spurs hanging around for EL qualification at best over the next 3-4 seasons.

Brighton just don't seem a realistic challenger for CL qualification any time soon, although EL and the Conference League seem reasonable goals.
 

bosnian_red

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CL qualification is a bridge too far for Brighton.

Even if assume Arsenal is having a freak season right now, they're a near-lock for top four the next 2-3 seasons. City...nuff said.

United? Sure, we could dip but we're heading in the right direction under ETH and with new ownership on the way we're not dropping out of the top four.

Liverpool and Chelsea? I see Liverpool coming back. Chelsea, possibly not, but probably yes.

Newcastle and Spurs? Newcastle are on the up, but I could see Brighton climbing above them but you'd get pretty good odds on such a bet. Spurs? So hard to say what the future holds for Spurs, but assuming they sort out of their shit (no guarantee of that happening, of course), they're in the conversation for top four, although in the end I see the Spurs hanging around for EL qualification at best over the next 3-4 seasons.

Brighton just don't seem a realistic challenger for CL qualification any time soon, although EL and the Conference League seem reasonable goals.
This season they are competing for it with them having De Zerbi come in after a month or so, and they are 3rd in the league in terms of a lot of the underlying metrics this season. A top striker goes a hell of a long way for teams like Brighton, and Ferguson only broke through not all that long ago and is 18. Rapid development at that age and next season when he's playing every game means it's likely they won't underperform all their xG and all that.

Caicedo and Mitoma also just top top players, also Mac Allister. All under 25. They extended Caicedo too. They are poised to have a Spurs when Kane broke through type of break out, and De Zerbi is an excellent manager. Can they keep strengthening and getting guys come through is a big question, but they play like a top team, and have excellent balance and top quality in key positions. We'll see but if they aren't ripped apart, I can see them being right amongst it next season. Even this season, they've underperformed all their xG stats but are on pace to be 5th while also reaching the FA Cup semis. We'll see how they finish the season, but that potential is absolutely there given the age of their squad
 

Pogue Mahone

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Guess the Jeffers example is another cautionary story in light of the calls for 75m bids (and Brighton supports arguing there's no risk except to BHA in allowing a purchase at that price). Jeffers seemed pretty injury-prone though and, notwithstanding the initial assist record, less of an all-round forward compared to Ferguson.

Not sure if it was the injuries or moving to Arsenal and complacency/break in focus matched with injury-fueled lack of game time, that saw him spiral, but everything seemed to desert him quite quickly, even the finishing. Someone like Fowler had injuries majorly affect his sharpness by the time he reached Man City, which seemed to affect his finishing significantly, but even that wasn't anything like the drop-off Jeffers had from what I vaguely remember - this was after he was tipped as a generational talent, a better pure striker potentially than Lineker etc.
He’s just trolling. Jeffers got a similar amount of hype at the time because he was seen as also having incredible potential. That’s why he got a move to a club competing for the league title at such a young age. Just because he never fulfilled that potential doesn’t mean the same will happen to Ferguson. Using that logic no club would ever pay big money for any promising 18 year old.

Obviously, as with all promising 18 year olds, there’s a chance Ferguson’s career could go south from here. Time will tell. But he looks very much like the real deal so far.
 

next_number_seven

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All this discussion is moot as I don't United will pay Brighton's asking price.

Also it's impossible to know his ceiling. It might just be mid table PL which is still brilliant but we're looking for the best in the world
 

DOTA

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He’s just trolling.
For the most part. It's to an extent born from reaction to these nuts figures people are suggesting for a kid who's not played enough games of professional football yet for anyone to be sure enough about him for such. That and a desire to annoy the Irish.
 

Bepi

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This kid is the hottest prospect you can find internally for a long term deal, so he should be your #1 priority imho.
 

RVN1991

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Don't think Brighton will sell yet. I can see them going the Dortmund way of selling one top player per season and I can see Caicedo moving this season and Ferguson staying at least one more year. They don't have to sell, they're banging on the door of UCL qualification and the lad is probably better off staying at Brighton and moving on to a bigger club once he's a bit more mature mentally and physically. He won't be cheap that's for sure.
 

gajender

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Why wouldn’t I? It’s the same board with the Fellaini fiasco after all.
So you are believing nonsensical story of time zone mixup by United inserted in an article where only alleged quotes are by Everton scout discussing Everton interest in Haaland and how they went cold after agreeing the fee .

And even if you believe it please explain why Molde Board didn't contact United back as they could have possibly extracted bigger fee were they also inept or it's just a made up nonsense.
 

BerryBerryShrew

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It doesn't have to be players of that level but until they do start producing good numbers of their own I think its a bit too much to say they're the masters of youth development.

Your 4 point description of what is tales to develop a player. Which bit are United missing?
None necessarily, but he is guaranteed to be a regular starter at Brighton whereas we already have Rashford, Martial, possibly Greenwood and it isn't unlikely that Kane will either be coming in the summer or on a free next year. If he is to go to a "top" side, ours is pretty much the best bet right now, but staying at Brighton wouldn't be a bad shout for him and I certainly wouldn't question his mentality if he wants to stay for another season or two before potentially moving on.
 

Wayne's World

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I just hope he becomes the Irish superstar that this country needs, we have been crying out for someone like him since Keane,

Personally he's probably the best Irish footballer I've seen since Damien Duff so I hope the career will go the same way
 

Yakuza_devils

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Instead of buying him let's sign Brighton's scouting department. They are better than Dortmund's. How on earth they can unearthed all these hidden gems and sign them cheaply.

For Ferguson, we must be sensible anything more than 50M walk away. The risk is too high for a youngster.
 

Okey

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Instead of buying him let's sign Brighton's scouting department. They are better than Dortmund's. How on earth they can unearthed all these hidden gems and sign them cheaply.

For Ferguson, we must be sensible anything more than 50M walk away. The risk is too high for a youngster.
Whole post seconded.
 

cyberman

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Instead of buying him let's sign Brighton's scouting department. They are better than Dortmund's. How on earth they can unearthed all these hidden gems and sign them cheaply.

For Ferguson, we must be sensible anything more than 50M walk away. The risk is too high for a youngster.
Worked well for Chelsea!
 

Blood Mage

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Second only to Haaland in terms of goal-scoring opportunities created in the PL. Top talent and a United fan too, sign him up.
 

Yakuza_devils

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Second only to Haaland in terms of goal-scoring opportunities created in the PL. Top talent and a United fan too, sign him up.
Brighton want 100M for a 50M player. Antony is a 40M player signed for 85M. See what happened?
 

Champ

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An absolutely cracking player, would love to get him at United.

But that stat from Sky is quite frankly hilarious. :lol: :lol: :houllier:
Essentially a goal a game over 6 fecking games, doesn't really warrant him to be next to Haaland in any list so far.

Just shows how stats can be incredibly misleading when presented in certain ways.
 

eire-red

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An absolutely cracking player, would love to get him at United.

But that stat from Sky is quite frankly hilarious. :lol: :lol: :houllier:
Essentially a goal a game over 6 fecking games, doesn't really warrant him to be next to Haaland in any list so far.

Just shows how stats can be incredibly misleading when presented in certain ways.
I think it's moreso that it's impressive due to his age and it being a breakout season. Usually one would need a settling period, but it's impressive and rare to have someone to make such an instant impact.

That's just the PL also. I think he has a couple goals in the FA Cup too. Only an extra few games, but still.
 

UTAretro

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Rotated today for Welbeck, so he’s starting from the bench. The lad has played a loads of football lately for us and Ireland, and we need to keep him fresh for the final ten games after this.

That said, we’ll see him in the second half.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Rotated today for Welbeck, so he’s starting from the bench. The lad has played a loads of football lately for us and Ireland, and we need to keep him fresh for the final ten games after this.

That said, we’ll see him in the second half.
A win today would put you 4 points behind Newcastle. It’s a huge game for you imo to determine whether a late CL charge can be made
 

Dempsey19

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I think Brighton will price him out of a move to be honest. He's contracted till 2026 so they won't be in a hurry to cash in.

Doesn't help that Caicedo and Mitouma will draw big interest. Brighton can't sell them all.