Brighton boss Graham Potter is weighing up a raid on his former club Swansea City for midfielder Bersant Celina, according to the Sun.
Celina arrived in South Wales after spells for Manchester City, Dutch club FC Twente and Ipswich. He was handed just 13 minutes of Premier League action during his time at Manchester City. He was brought on by Manuel Pellegrini in a 3-1 defeat to Leicester, where he assisted the consolation goal scored by Sergio Aguero. After departing the Etihad, the midfield creator turned up for FC Twente and Ipswich before finding a steady home in Wales.
Since making the switch to Swansea, Celina has made 69 appearances across all competitions for the Championship outfit. In those 69 games, Celina has scored 10 and assisted 11.
Brighton manager Graham Potter (Image credit: Getty)
Celina has scored two and assisted three in 26 Championship outings this term, which isn’t overly impressive. However, despite his fairly average record this season, the former Man City man has attracted attention from the Seagulls (h/t Sun).
Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster and Shane Duffy are all solid centre-backs at Brighton and have been impressive this season, but the Seagulls lack skill higher up the pitch. Davy Propper and Dale Stephens are experienced Premier League midfielders and they have too much to do givent he lack of quality up front. Brighton are missing star winger Jose Izquierdo.
Meanwhile, Yves Bissouma seems like he could be a real player but he has been recovering from a shoulder problem all season. Summer signing Trossard and Aaron Mooy have been used on the flanks but they lack the pace of an out-and-out winger. The absence of good attackers has been visible, thus leading to the Seagulls’ numerous struggles this term.
Bringing in someone like Celina could prove to be good. In 26 appearances in the Championship this season, Celina has averaged 2 shots and 1.7 key passes per game along with 1.6 dribbles. With a pass success of 77.5%, Celina has been one of Swansea’s best players this season. [Courtesy: Whoscored]
Celina perfectly fits the bill for Brighton. At 23, he has already played under Potter at Swansea and Brighton must do everything possible to sign the midfielder this January.