Brighton & Hove Albion made an attempt to sign Anderlecht’s Nathan De Cat in the winter market.

That’s according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, relayed by Walfoot. He covers Brighton’s advances towards the end of the recently concluded window.

The 17-year-old is a product of the Belgian club’s youth system. He made his way to the first team in 2024 and has been a regular this season. To put it in context, he has played 2,230 minutes from 30 matches in all competitions.

De Cat’s performances have caught the attention of several European clubs. Brighton are one of them and have submitted an offer to Anderlecht on deadline day.

Fabian Hürzeler’s side offered €20m for the ‘prodigy’. Anderlecht considered it to be ‘too low’ and didn’t entertain the Seagulls’ proposal.

On deadline day, Anderlecht sold Nilson Angulo to Sunderland for a reported fee of just over €17m plus bonuses. It would have been a huge blow for them to then sell De Cat to Brighton.

The Jupiler Pro League side’s current record sale is at €26m, received from Jérémy Doku’s move to Stade Rennais in 2020. There are expectations for De Cat to be their new record sale.

There...