Potter confident of keeping Brighton star amid Spurs, Arsenal links

Will Ford
Brighton manager Graham Potter

Brighton boss Graham Potter does not expect any of his star players to leave the club during the January transfer window amid ongoing speculation about the future of Tariq Lamptey.

Seagulls full-back Lamptey has been heavily linked with Premier League rivals Tottenham and Arsenal after returning to form following a prolonged injury absence.


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Head coach Potter insists Albion are under no pressure to sell as he confirmed there have so far been no bids for the England Under-21 international.

“I’d expect all of our players to be with us (at the end of the window),” he said.

“There’s a lot of speculation out there but nothing to report.

“The fact that there is speculation out there means you are doing something quite well. And as a club you can be OK with that type of speculation.

“You never know what the window brings in terms of whether anything comes from the outside, which you have to factor in.

“We’re not a selling club at all, we don’t have to sell anybody. But you never know in this world, so you have to be a little bit aware of that.”

Potter, who is preparing for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Championship club West Brom, has already trimmed his squad this month.

Jurgen Locadia’s permanent move to German club Bochum was confirmed on Thursday morning, while fellow striker Aaron Connolly has been allowed to join Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the remainder of the season.

Brighton on Wednesday announced the signing of 18-year-old Poland midfielder Kacper Kozlowski from Pogon Szczecin but he will be unavailable until next campaign having been immediately loaned to Belgian league leaders Royale Union St-Gilloise.

Potter did not rule out further incomings this month, although he does not envisage any big-money arrivals.

“January is difficult for that type of signing anyway,” he said.

“We’ve always had a good idea of how we want to work in the windows. We work ahead. It’s not like we are caught by surprise.

“We have a strategy, we have an idea of what we want to do as a club and we follow that.

“You’ve always got to be on your toes, you’ve always got to be aware of what’s out there but, at the same time, we’ve got an idea that we want to follow through and we’ll do our best with it.

“I’m really happy with the group we’ve got.”

New signing Kozlowski, who has six Poland caps and featured at Euro 2020, was reportedly being tracked by a host of other clubs, including Liverpool.

Potter believes Seagulls midfielder Jakub Moder may have been influential in convincing his compatriot to opt for the south coast.

“He’s someone we’ve followed a long time, we know about a lot,” Potter said of Kozlowski.

“A modern-day midfield player, I would say, really good on the ball and it fits into what we’re trying to do here.

“All we can do is put our story to him, it helps that we’ve got Jakub here and I’m guessing they speak.

“It’s about seeing what the right decision for him is, the right thing for his career, and thankfully we’ve been able to persuade him to come to us.”