Bristol City, Birmingham City and Sheff United dealt transfer blow by Brighton

Bristol City's rumoured pursuit of Evan Ferguson could be over after Brighton & Hove Albion signalled their intentions. The Robins were linked with a loan move for Ferguson in November, along with several clubs.

The January transfer window is open, and reports from when the window was shut, might come to the surface. City over the past few months have been linked with several players, but the harsh reality is that until players are moved off the books, they cannot bring players in.

Despite an obvious need to move players out first, it has not stopped rumours from circulating. A report from the Daily Mailclaimed that City, along with Sheffield United, Millwall, Birmingham City, Preston North End, and Wigan Athletic were all keeping tabs on Republic of Ireland striker Ferguson. League One promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town were also said to hold an interest in him, but that other clubs would be ahead of them.

All seven clubs could be disappointed however as Brighton may have outlined their intentions to the interested parties. Ferguson is highly rated by the Seagulls, and they beat off competition from Liverpool to sign him.

In the latest development, Ferguson played and scored against Arsenal in Brighton's 4-2 defeat to league leaders Arsenal on New Years Day. He replaced Leandro Trossard in the 60th minute, with the Sussex side trailing 3-0, and just 17 minutes later, he scored a header past Aaron Ramsdale, netting his first league goal.

He is the youngest player to score for Brighton in the Premier League, and is the first player since Wayne Rooney to score against the team starting the Premier League top, which happened in October 2002. His goal against Arsenal is in addition to his strike scored against Forest Green Rovers.

“He’s a good player,” Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi told Sky Sports in his assessment of Brighton's second scorer. “He has very big potential, like Sarmiento, like Encise, like Lamptey, like Billy Gilmour, Colwill. But they have to [have] the possibility to play, to grow up.”

Ferguson's goal against Arsenal came after a seven-minute cameo against Southampton, and a place amongst the substitutes against Aston Villa, before the break for the World Cup. His place in the 18-man match-day squad could spell an end to any move away from the Amex this month.