Liverpool and Arsenal in hunt for Brighton’s Pedro

Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are all showing interest in Brighton forward Joao Pedro ahead of a possible summer transfer.

Telegraph Sport understands that the Premier League giants are among the admirers of Pedro, who has scored 30 goals in 70 games since joining Brighton from Watford for around £30million in 2023.

Pedro, 23, moved to Watford from Fluminense in 2020 and has become one of the most exciting young forwards in England.

Liverpool are expected to be active in the market, with Arne Slot set to be backed by one of the club’s biggest transfer budgets. A striker is among their priorities Arsenal are understood to be long-term admirers of Pedro and have explored the possibility of signing him in previous seasons. Arsenal are considering a number of attacking options, at centre-forward and left wing, with Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres and Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams of interest.

Chelsea are also in the market for a striker and have a long-standing admiration for Pedro. In addition, Chelsea have RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko (another striker of interest to Arsenal) and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap on their radar.

But Liverpool and Chelsea were last night dealt a blow in their attempts to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth.

Real Madrid are believed to have won the race for the £50 million defender after a breakthrough was made on his wage demands.