By George Overhill

26th Sep, 2022 | 8:00pm

Brighton join the race for Aberdeen teenager Lewis Pirie - report

Brighton are the latest English side to join an increasingly heated race to sign “rising star” Aberdeen forward Lewis Pirie, according to the Daily Record.

The Seagulls are set to “up their interest” in the 16-year-old attacking talent after receiving a “glowing scouting report” following his goal against a Hibernian age group side this week.

Leeds United and Fulham were the first Premier League sides to tip their hands after a host of clubs from England sent representatives to watch the Scotland under-16s star against Denmark at the beginning of the month, where he again scored in a 4-2 defeat.

The Dons are understandably hoping to get one of their “top talents” to sign senior forms in order to remain at the club once he becomes eligible, but interest is mounting south of the border, particularly as clubs are forced to look closer to home after Brexit.

According to the Daily Record: “Pirie has already been handed a glowing report by the Brighton scouting team and they will continue to monitor him closely over the coming weeks.”

Nurture

Young talents have been the order of the day to a decent extent at the Amex over the summer, having signed Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour and loaned Levi Colwill from Stamford Bridge.

They also brought in 20-year-old Simon Adingra from Nordsjaelland before loaning him back out again, as well as teenage forward Julio Enciso.

As well as that they have been linked with the likes of Khayon Edwards from Arsenal, Facundo Buonanotte at Rosario Central and Birmingham City’s George Hall, so there is a clear youth drive occurring on the south coast.

There might have been fears that the departure of highly rated former manager Graham Potter and his staff to Chelsea could upset the way things have been run after so much success.

But the hierarchy at the Amex were happy to allow the former Swansea boss to leave as they are confident that the framework at the club can accommodate such change and keep operating.

With former Shakhtar Donetsk boss Roberto De Zerbi now in place it looks like things have returned to business as usual on the recruitment side of things, and fans will now be hoping they do the same on the pitch.

If they do then the Seagulls should remain an attractive option for the sort of youngsters like Pirie who want to gain experience and have a realistic route to progress, although Leeds’ strong reputation for youth talent will be formidable competition in this race.

In other Brighton news, Gilmour only left Stamford Bridge to work with Potter who immediately moved the other way.