Man United great issues verdict on the 'lovely' Brighton striker who rejected Liverpool transfer

Denis Irwin played with plenty of top quality strikers in his career and he feels Brighton’s Evan Ferguson has the potential to be among the best.

Ferguson, 18, enjoyed an excellent breakthrough season with Brighton last term as he notched six goals and two assists in the Premier League. The Ireland international swiftly became a focal point for Roberto De Zerbi’s attack and also made his international debut for Ireland in a friendly against Norway. He featured in two further friendlies for Ireland against Malta and Latvia – where he scored his first for his country – and then played in the 2024 Euro qualifier loss to France last March.

It has been a remarkable rise for the player who previously rejected a move to Liverpool in favour of Brighton when he left Bohemians in August 2021. Ferguson is set to feature for Ireland once again on Friday as they take on Greece in the Euro qualifiers and also against Gibraltar in Dublin on Monday. Irwin, who played alongside the likes of Eric Cantona, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham for Man United and Robbie Keane for Ireland, has kept a close eye on Ferguson’s development. He feels he can be a key player for Brighton and on the international stage.

“He is at a good place at the moment. We have not had a centre-forward with his ability since Robbie Keane,” said Irwin in the www.independent.ie. “He is a very confident and level-headed lad. I’m probably going to put too much pressure on him but he looks like a really good player. It was a good breakthrough season for him down at Brighton, a good club to be at at the moment, a very stable club.

“The manager seems very good, they play a lovely style of football,” added Irwin. “A very level-headed lad. He’s broke through at 18 at Brighton. We always put these (comparisons) on young players, but he certainly looks like a sensible young lad which is good.”