If reports are to be believed then newly promoted Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion have seen a bid for striker Raphael Dwamena rejected by FC Zurich. The Super League striker has found scoring quite easy of late catching the attention of numerous clubs with the Seagulls one of his prime suitors.
It is safe to say that the Irish manager has had a decent squad upgrade from the last season despite hardly having taken a wrong step. They even became the first side to gain promotion to the Premier League before losing the title to Newcastle United.
Hughton knows the difference in level between the Championship and Premier League courtesy to his previous stint in top-flight football, and he knew he had to make some major changes to have any chance of surviving here. Chris Hughton will need a striker to finish his summer shopping.
And unlike Newcastle, the Seagulls had carefully planned their transfers landing their targets promptly and without problems. They have brought in central midfielders Davy Propper from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for a club record fee of over £10 million, Pascal Gross and defender Markus Suttner both from German side Ingolstadt.
They shored up their defence with 19-year-old defender Josh Kerr from Scottish side Celtic, goalkeeper Matthew Ryan from La Liga side Sevilla and Mathias Normann from Norwegian side FK Bodo/Glimt. Forward has been a neglected position to some extent with the loan move of forward Izzy Brown from Chelsea and winger Jose Izquierdo from Club Brugge being the only arrivals.
25-year-old Ghanaian international, Dwamena remains their next target and they are highly likely to come up with an improved bid. Apparently, the club representatives had met with the player in Belgium to finalize things in what is set to be an initial £13.5 million deal that could potentially rise to £16 million.
The youth product of Red Bull Ghana, Dwamena moved to Polish side Red Bull Salzburg’s under-18 squad in 2014 to continue his progress. It was followed by stints with second-tier Polish sides FC Liefering and SC Austria Lustenau, before Swiss club FC Zurich picked him.
And an interesting thing to notice would be the striker’s sudden rise in form since his move to SC Austria Lustenau last year. In his short stint of 22 games there, Dwamena managed to score 21 goals and five assists. He continued that in Switzerland too, scoring 14 goals and providing six assists in 22 games.
