Brighton chief explains why he broke club protocol over Leeds loan star Ben White

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber has reiterated his club’s desire to keep hold of Ben White, who is currently on loan at Leeds United.

White, 22, has been in superb form at Elland Road this season, playing every minute of every Championship match for the league leaders.

On Saturday morning, Brighton’s official Twitter account posted a picture of a letter that was sent to them by a young Leeds fan who wanted to help buy White for his club.

Barber responded with a letter of his own, saying that White is an important part of the future at the AMEX Stadium.

Barber has now revealed why he broke Brighton’s protocol to reply to the letter about White, saying he did it to send out a messaged to Leeds fans.

“We did receive an offer from a young man called Daniel, literally raising his piggy bank to try and prize Ben White from us,” Barber told Sky Sports, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“We don’t usually talk about our transfer business publicly but we wanted to send a very clear message to five-year-old Leeds fans everywhere that Ben is not for sale.

“It was great to see the letter from the young man.

“I am sure he had help from a family member in drafting the letter but it takes a couple of minutes to reply to a young kid that loves his club and particularly loves Ben White who is a terrific young player.”