Brighton transfer news: 'Detailed checks' carried out on in-demand striker dubbed the ‘new Viktor Gyokeres’

Brighton & Hove Albion are reportedly one of several English clubs keeping tabs on Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik.

The 24-year-old was signed by the Championship club on a free transfer from Bordeaux last summer and he is now the division’s top scorer with 20 goals in 39 appearances.

Vipotnik has elevated his game to new heights with the Swans and his prolific form in South Wales was recently rewarded with a new long-term contract, keeping him tied to the club until June 2030.

However, that has not stopped the rumour mill from linking the striker with a move to the Premier League this summer, with Brighton said to be one club interested in his services.

According to TEAMtalk, Vipotnik is rapidly emerging as one of the most in-demand strikers outside the Premier League and has long been on the radar of English clubs, since his days at Bordeaux.

Brighton ‘extensively scout’ in-demand striker Vipotnik

The report adds that Brighton are among those teams to have extensively scouted Vipotnik, while Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Brentford, Everton, Leeds United and West Ham United have also carried out detailed checks on the Slovenia international.

In addition, Championship leaders Coventry City and fellow promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town are also said to be keeping a close eye on the striker’s situation.

Vipotnik has been dubbed by some scouts as the ‘new Viktor Gyokeres’, with one Premier League scout telling TEAMtalk that there is a growing belief among clubs that Swansea’s No.9 could follow a similar trajectory to Arsenal’s big-money striker signing from last summer.

Gyokeres joined Arsenal for a reported £63m after scoring 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting Lisbon, and he has found the net 17 times in 44 matches for the Gunners so far this season.

The Sweden international was initially brought to England by Brighton in 2018, making just eight first-team appearances, and he went on loan to Swansea before completing a permanent move to Coventry, where he excelled in the Championship between 2021 and 2023.

Could Vipotnik be a successor to Welbeck at Brighton?

Brighton’s interest in Vipotnik comes at a time when head coach Fabian Hurzeler has relied heavily on the goalscoring prowess of experienced striker Danny Welbeck, who has netted 12 times in the Premier League this term.

However, Welbeck will turn 36 at the end of this year and he is out of contract in the summer of 2027, so the Seagulls will be planning to find a long-term successor.

Eighteen-year-old Charalampos Kostoulas, Stefanos Tzimas, 20, and Georginio Rutter, 23, have been three more centre-forward options at Hurzeler’s disposal this season.

Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over the long-term future of Evan Ferguson, who is currently on loan at Serie A club Roma but has been sidelined since January with an ankle injury; whether he remains in Italy next season remains to be seen.