Man Utd and Arsenal join Brighton in £5m winger transfer battle after scouting

Manchester United and Arsenal are amongst a long list of clubs keeping tabs on 18-year-old Hammarby sensation Bazoumana Toure.  The red-hot Ivorian winger is valued at around £5million and has made a huge impression in Sweden since moving to Scandinavia in March from ASEC Mimosas in his homeland.  Jet-heeled Traore can play on either flank and has already amassed six goals and three assists so far this season - making a swift transition from African football.  He is represented by world-renowned agency Unique Sports Group, whose top clients include the likes of Anthony Gordon, Marc Guehi and Reece James, respectively.

United, Arsenal, Brighton and Wolves are understood to have had scouts in attendance on Thursday for Hammarby's Allsvenskan clash against Hacken.

They won the match comfortably, 2-0, and Traore even helped himself to an assist before being substituted in the second half.

Hammarby's sporting director Mikael Hjelmberg said earlier this week: “There are a lot of clubs coming to the match against Hacken. We need to plan for a future without him. Then if it happens this winter, next summer or even further than that – I don’t think so, we’ll see. But the longer we get to keep him the better.”

Traore cost the Swedish club in the region of £370,000 earlier this year and now looks set to make Hammarby mega profit. It comes after Tottenham paid in the region of £8.5million to Djurgarden for talented playmaker Lucas Bergvall.

Brighton have already done their fair share of scouting in Scandinavia in recent years. Back in 2017, they signed Sporting CP hot-shot Viktor Gyokeres from Stockholm-based outfit IF Brommapojkarna.

While the move did not work out in the end for the forward, one of very few rare Brighton transfer blunders, they have continued to shop in Sweden and Denmark, in particular.

In January 2023, the Seagulls recruited young midfielder Yasin Ayari from AIK and he has broken into their first-team this season under Fabian Hurzeler. They also signed Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman from FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark in January before loaning the player to Feyenoord.