David Woods

Wed 19 August 2020 7:35, UK

Times journalist Duncan Castles has said that Brighton are now looking for £55m or more for Ben White – a fee that he called “remarkable” for a player with no Premier League experience. 

Talking on the latest episode of The Transfer Window podcast he said that Brighton want to get White signed up on a new contract before playing him at the Amex for at least a season.

The hope is that his displays in the Premier League and a call-up to the England squad will inflate his value to the level that Brighton want to sell at.

It’s a new twist in the ongoing White transfer saga after it had been reported that Brighton would accept £40m for the player this summer.

“I think Ben White is a fascinating case in point,” Castles said.

“A player who hasn’t played a minute in the Premier League, who’s not played a competitive game for his parent club, but who has Liverpool, Chelsea interested in him, other top clubs watching him. Leeds I believe have made three bids already, having had him on loan last season where he was the only ever-present.

“I understand the figure that Brighton will be looking to sell him for is £55m or more, which is a remarkable fee for a player who has zero Premier League experience.

“The idea is that he has 10 years in front of him, there’s a distinct possibility he will be called up for England which would add to his value, and that goes up again if he plays for England regularly.

“The calculation seems to be, give the player a new contract, put him in the first team, let him perform to expectations and the value will go up to the level that we’re quoting, and we get the benefit of having him in our team for a year or more.”

Can we blame Brighton?

We’ve taken a few digs at Brighton over the past couple of weeks, at their seeming intransigence over White.

However, if they feel they have a future England regular on their hands, can we blame them for the plan as outlined by Castles?

£55m might seem completely laughable at the moment but this new twist in the White saga makes sense if they’re really not looking to sell this summer.

To be fair, they’ve consistently said that they want to keep hold of him – and given that, they’re free to put whatever price on his head they want to. However, it would depend on White signing a new contract – and that hasn’t happened yet.

Angus Kinnear got it right when he said that White is a Brighton player and that Leeds have to respect that.

Yes, he’s the player he is because of Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United. But he didn’t develop from a League 1 player to a Premier League player over the course of the season. He was brilliant from his first game for Leeds – and as Castles said, he played every minute in the Championship.

Leeds United need to move on and we like the idea of Robin Koch as an alternative to White. We’d like to see Leeds move for him as soon as possible and we wish White every success in the world. He’ll always remain a Leeds hero.

In other Leeds United news, Reliable journalist: Leeds locked in talks for striker after tabling £13.5m bid