Arsenal and Manchester City dealt transfer blow as target's current manager hints player will stay beyond this season
Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto de Zerbi has stated that Arsenal and Manchester City target Kaoru Mitoma will stay with the club beyond the current season.
Mitoma signed for Brighton from Kawasaki Frontale in August 2021 for around £2.5 million before spending the 2021-22 campaign in Germany on loan with Union SG. He made 27 appearances for the German club, scoring seven goals.
The Japan international returned to Brighton for the 2022-23 season and has impressed with his performances. He has featured 30 times for the Seagulls, scoring 10 goals and picking up seven assists.
Though his Brighton contract doesn't expire until 2025, his impressive displays have led to interest from Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester City.
On Tuesday (11 April), the club held an open training session and some young fans were given the chance to ask Brighton boss De Zerbi some questions. One fan asked him if he wanted "to be Mitoma", to which the Italian replied:
"Yes, because he is very fast. At the end of the session I spoke with Mitoma. I ask him, 'how are you?' I said, 'listen, we have to improve in some situations of the football'. He said, 'okay coach'. I said, 'yes but we have a lot of time this year and next year!'"
A new contract for Kaoru Mitoma then? 👀🇯🇵 https://t.co/Wy31NaI4m2
Brighton's chief executive rules out summer sale of Arsenal and Manchester City target Kaoru Mitoma
Brighton & Hove Albion's chief executive Paul Barber recently ruled out any plans to sell Kaoru Mitoma at the end of the season. Speaking on The Beautiful Game podcast last month, Barber said that he's ready to fend off offers for the winger in the summer.
He said:
"Obviously he's [Kaoru Mitoma] another player that will be in the spotlight in the next transfer window. We're ready for that and we understand that, we just hope he can have a great second half of the season. We're very fortunate from a financial point of view that we're not a club that has to sell players to survive."
Brighton and Mitoma will be in action on Saturday (15 April) when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.