BRIGHTON IN BID TO SIGN PHILLIPS

Brighton and Hove Albion have reportedly identified Liverpool defender Nat Phillips as the man to replace Ben White who’s closing in on a move to North London giants Arsenal. According to TalkSports, the Seagulls want to sign Phillips from Liverpool.

Liverpool have a lot of options as far as the central defensive position is concerned and they won’t mind selling the abovementioned Phillips who impressed for the Reds on the way to bagging a Champions League spot at the end of last season. Reds boss JurgenKlopp was missing the likes of Dutchman Virgil Van Dijk, England international Joe Gomez and Cameroon player Joel Matip at centre back and Phillips had to step in to do a job after returning to Liverpool from his loan spell at German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart at the start of last season.

Brighton are said to be lining up a £15m bid for Philips as they plan to spend part of the transfer fee for White on the Liverpool player. The Seagulls will receive £50m for White from North London giants Arsenal this summer and they intend to sign some players with the money.

The priority for the Seagulls is a new centre forward despite giving experienced striker Danny Welbeck a new one-year deal after his previous Brighton contract expired last month. Apart from a central striker, the Seagulls also plan to sign a central defender like Liverpool man Phillips.

Philips has shown his quality at Liverpool as witnessed last season and he could be an able replacement for White at Brighton. He made his debut for the Reds in the Premier League in October. The 24-year-old made a total of 20 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool with two goal contributions. Phillips scored once and provided an assist in those 20 games.