Forgotten Brighton flop could unlock Ferguson to Man Utd or Arsenal

Tom Weber

• 27 Jan 2024 11:15 CST
• 7 min read

Serhou Guirassy has been one of the breakout stars of this Bundesliga season, but his partner in crime Deniz Undav has been just as impressive.

The Brighton loanee notched a spectacular hattrick against RB Leipzig on Saturday in a whirlwind game that saw VfB Stuttgart beat the Red Bulls 5-2. Both sides have had a strange start to 2024, losing their first two games, but Undav stopped the rut of this season's surprise package while piling the pressure on Leipzig boss Marco Rose.

In scoring his hat trick, the German took his goal tally for the season up to 13 in 18 games across all competitions, which is not bad considering that he began the season injured and was then second fiddle to in-demand striker Serhou Guirassy. Indeed, there is a decent argument to be made that Undav is the most prolific scorer in the Bundesliga this term, netting 13 times in a little over 1100 minutes.

As a matter of fact, according to data provided by SciSports, the Brighton man has been by far and away the best striker in the Bundesliga this term when taking into account his overall contribution to Stuttgart's game. Admittedly, however, this is skewed by the fact that he has played 1000 fewer minutes than the likes of Harry Kane and Lois Openda.

Undav back to Brighton?

Undav's spectacular form is good news for Stuttgart and bad news for Brighton for several reasons. According to German media, the Bundesliga side will have an option to buy the 27-year-old for just €12 million in the summer.

But even if Roberto de Zerbi's Seagulls decided to keep him around in light of his goalscoring exploits that could prove to be a problem. Having Undav around could tempt the Brighton hierarchy into selling the club's golden boy Evan Ferguson.

A sale of the teenage wonderkid is inevitable, but given that he recently penned a new long-term deal, it is not clear when exactly it will transpire. FootballTransfers exclusively revealed that Man Utd and Chelsea had already approached the Seagulls this month regarding a potential loan for the youngster, who hasn't quite kicked on as expected this term.

FootballTransfers also revealed last summer that Ferguson is a major Arsenal target for 2024, so he will have no shortage of suitors in the summer. Undav coming good this season could convince Brighton bosses that it might be time to cash in on Evan Ferguson.