Brighton & Hove Albion are set to sign Diego Gomez from Inter Miami for a fee of £11million.
The versatile 21-year-old midfielder is expected to remain with Miami until the end of the 2024 Major League Soccer season before moving to Brighton in January.
The Athletic reported in June the Premier League club had submitted a bid for Gomez and were hopeful of concluding a deal as they continue their policy of buying young talent from across the world.
Gomez joined Miami in the summer of 2023 from Club Libertad in his native Paraguay and has made 32 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring seven goals.
His Miami contract runs through to the 2026 season with the option of a further year.
He was part of the Miami side that won the 2023 Leagues Cup — the club’s first major trophy — coming on as a second-half substitute in the final.
Gomez has featured 20 times during the 2024 campaign either side of a two-month spell out with an ankle injury. He has been deployed across the midfield by Miami this season, featuring centrally and on the left wing.
Gomez has played alongside Lionel Messi at Miami (Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)
The Athletic has contacted Miami for comment.
Gomez has been capped seven times at senior international level by Paraguay since making his debut in 2022, and also represented his country at this summer’s Paris Olympics, starting all four matches at the Games and captaining the side as Paraguay reached the quarter-finals.
A move to Brighton would see the midfielder join up with Paraguay team-mate Julio Enciso at club level once more, after the pair played together at Libertad in 2022.
Brighton were among the highest spenders in Europe during the summer transfer window, bringing in nine new additions at a cost of £195m. They completed the signings of Yankuba Minteh, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Malick Yalcouye, Ibrahim Osman, Mats Wieffer, Matt O’Riley, Brajan Gruda, Ferdi Kadioglu and paid a club record £40m for Georginio Rutter.
Brighton have begun the season with two victories and a draw under new head coach Fabian Hurzeler to leave them third in the Premier League.
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How Brighton became Europe’s second highest spenders – with £195m paid out this summer
(Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
