Brighton will not accept any offer from Leeds to sign centre back Ben White this summer, as they do not want to strengthen a rival, a report from Sky Sports has claimed.
White enjoyed an outstanding campaign on loan at Elland Road, playing a key role in helping the club win promotion back to the Premier League as Championship title-winners, so it no surprise to see the vast majority of those associated with the club desperate to see the 22-year-old back in Leeds’ colours next season.
Indeed, there have been reports of no fewer than three Leeds bids for White this summer, the biggest of which is thought to have been worth £25million, only for all three of those offers to be rejected, and it seems as though that stance from Brighton will not be changing for any price.
According to the latest reports, Brighton will not accept any bid from Leeds for White, no matter how high, due to the fact that they view the Yorkshire club as a rival for next season.
It is thought that Brighton believe they will be competing in a similar part of the Premier League table for Leeds next season, and as a result do not want to give them any sort of advantage on the pitch by selling them White.
As things stand, there are two years remaining on White’s current contract with Brighton, although it is understood that the defender has turned down three new contract offers from the club this summer.
You can’t help but be disappointed with this from a Leeds perspective, considering how good White was, and how much of a connection he developed with the club during his time here.
However, you can sort of understand Brighton’s stance here. The Seagulls were looking over their shoulder at the relegation places last season, and they are not going to want to strengthen a club who could push them closer to the dotted line next season.
It will therefore be interesting to see how they use White next season, since you can’t imagine he will be too pleased to be sat on the sidelines with the knowledge they could have let him go somewhere where regular game time would have been likely this summer.