Brighton has reached a club-record deal with Watford for the forward Joao Pedro.
The 21-year-old has been a member of the Hornets since January 2020, but he now appears ready to leave after 2 and a half seasons for an estimated £30 million transfer price, which Brighton is going to gladly pay.
With 11 goals in 35 Championship games this season, Pedro—Watford’s leading scorer—is scheduled to formally close his transfer once the transfer window opens in June.
Before Watford’s relegation from the Premier League, the Brazilian youngster scored three goals in 31 games. In the meanwhile, Brighton’s largest transfer cost to date continues to stand at the £20 million they paid for centre-back Adam Webster from Bristol City in August 2019.
Should their current attempt of bringing Pedro down to the south coast, they will be looking at surpassing that club record. Currently, available strikers for the Seagulls are Danny Welbeck, Evan Ferguson, and Deniz Undav.
Ferguson’s injury and Welbeck’s absence from the FA Cup semi-final match against Manchester United, however, demonstrated that there is a place in Roberto De Zerbi’s squad for another target man.
Ferguson has recently renewed his Brighton contract, meaning they will be keeping him with the team until 2028, while Watford appears content to spend another year in the second division.
In what is expected to be a tight run-in, they are now in 13th position and six points off of the last playoff spot.
