Roma 'agree loan deal with Brighton for Evan Ferguson including option to buy for £32.9m' after striker's failed stint at West Ham
The 20-year-old striker burst on to the scene as a teenager under Graham Potter following his move from Irish outfit Bohemians in 2021.
However, has endured a troubled time with injury over the last few seasons, struggling to carve out a sustained period in the Brighton team.
He spent the second-half of last season on loan at West Ham, but failed to make an impact, failing to score in eight Premier League appearances for the Hammers.
Ferguson could not be set for another loan move away from Brighton, who have been in talks with Roma this week over a loan deal with an option to buy.
According to Sky Italia, the negotiations between the two clubs had been ongoing for some time, with a significant gap between Roma's initial proposal of £26m (€30m) and Brighton's asking price closer to £34.6m (€40m).
The final fee is now expected to settled at £32.9m (€38m) including add-ons.
Roma are now said to be focused on ironing out contractual details and agreeing personal terms with Ferguson, which are not expected to present major issues.
Ferguson burst onto the scene when he scored a hat-trick against Newcastle at the start of 2023-24 season aged just 18.
He was compared with a young Alan Shearer, the Premier League top scorer, at the time and an exciting future looked set in stone.
But his progress has stalled due to injuries - including a six-month lay-off with an ankle problem.
If Ferguson completes a move to Serie A, he will become the second striker to depart Brighton this summer after Joao Pedro, who has joined Chelsea for £60m.
Meanwhile, Seagulls left-back Pervis Estupinan is attracting interest from Manchester United and AC Milan.
At 27, Brighton will not stand in his way if he wants to leave for another challenge and bids close to £40m would tempt them.
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South Wales Argus
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Williamson believes England's 'vulnerability' aided Euro 2025 victory
The Lionesses came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with world champions Spain at St. Jakob Park, before defeating them 3-1 on penalties. It saw Williamson lift her second European title as England captain, becoming the only senior England captain to do so on foreign soil. But while buzzwords like resilience and a never-say-die attitude have followed their tournament trajectory, the 28-year-old suggests it was the willingness of her side to open themselves up to a belief in their own ability that proved the real key to success. 'You can have all of those words, and sport has all of those words circulating all the time and then you have people that are brave and put that into action and decide that you're going to go for it,' Williamson explained. 'You leave yourself vulnerable and all of those things. If you really, really try hard and it's not quite enough, that's an awful feeling. 'To put yourself out there like that, the reward is so great and we were brave enough to do it. I think that's the key to the team. 'Sarina [Wiegman] believes in us so much, it's hard not to believe that yourself. She said the same thing as she said before, 'We don't have to win, we want to win, and we're capable of winning so it's up to you girls,' and we did it.' England had made a habit of coming back from behind, closing a two-goal deficit against Sweden in the quarter-finals before coming back from 1-0 down against both Italy and Spain. But having lost their opening match against France, England had played must-win football all from the outset and while it may not always have been pretty, they became accustomed to getting the job done. 'It was a hard-fought tournament and after our first game we looked ourselves in the mirror, we knew what we had to do, and we did it, repeatedly,' said Williamson. 'And now we're back-to-back champions and that feels good. 'Thank you to those of you who stuck with us. We'll party for you tonight if you've got work tomorrow and if not, go and enjoy yourselves.' It was club team-mate Alessia Russo who had headed England level, after Mariona Caldentey gave Spain the lead after 25 minutes. A resolute defensive display from Williamson and co kept the scores level and as neither team could find a breakthrough, with Salma Paralluelo's profligacy in front of goal at times England's saving grace, it was to penalties once more. The Lionesses had found their route to success from a shootout against Sweden and would do so again, despite not having favoured penalty takers Russo or Georgia Stanway on the pitch. Instead captain Williamson was one of those to step up, and while she saw her penalty saved by Cata Coll, Chloe Kelly did the bidding to make England Euro 2025 champions. 'I said, 'Really?! I made the cut?'' said Williamson on being picked to take a penalty. 'I struggled the back end of the tournament with an injury and I was very grateful to get through the game. I didn't think it was going to carry me that far, and it did. 'I hit it a little bit too low, I would have gone higher if I could do it again. But on the way back, Chloe said to me, 'Don't worry about it.' If anybody is going to tell me that in a penalty shootout, I'll take it off her.'
Glasgow Times
19 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Williamson believes England's 'vulnerability' aided Euro 2025 victory
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