'We can grab' - Brighton's £100m ace shaping Tottenham's new transfer reality

Mitoma, 26, has been excellent since he joined Brighton from Kawasaki Frontale for around £4m in 2021. The Japan international spent a season on loan in the Belgium with Union SG and then impressed on his breakthrough Premier League campaign under the watchful eye of Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi.

Mitoma has carried on that form into the new season and netted a fine individual effort against Wolves during Brighton’s 4-1 victory last week. He is now regarded as one of the finest attacking talents in the Premier League and could command a potential transfer fee of around £100m.

His success however is of no surprise to Tottenham boss Postecoglou, who tipped him for stardom when he first laid eyes on him in the Japanese league while he was in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos – prior to his move to Celtic and then Tottenham.

Postecoglu said: “You look at people raving about Mitoma at Brighton. I watched his debut in Japan. I was on the opposition bench. He’d come straight from Uni. In his first game he destroyed us. I knew nothing about him. Who's this guy?

“They said: ‘He’s just come from uni. He put his schoolbooks down and he blew us away. That changed my thinking. Are there any other university players that are coming out that we can grab?

“So when I went to Scotland [with Celtic], I thought: ‘Yeah, I'm going to bring three or four Japanese players, they're gonna make it. It's not just about Japan. When you're looking at players, just don't look at what everyone else is looking at because you'd be surprised to see a guy who comes out of university and within three years is, you know, an unbelievable talent and in the most difficult league in the world.”

“I don't believe that the best talent is only in that £50m to £100million mark. There are very, very good footballers out there and if you're prepared to look beyond what everyone else is looking at, you'd be surprised what you find.”

Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City have previously been linked with a move for Mitoma but he is currently contracted to the Seagulls until June 2025 and is expected to play a huge role for Albion this term as they look to build under impressive head coach De Zerbi.