Tariq Lamptey has divulged his reasons for leaving hometown club Chelsea after more than a decade, disclosing he rejected numerous offers before moving to Brighton.
Right-sided defender Lamptey, 20, has won plenty of admirers for his energy, dynamism and fearlessness since his deadline-day move to the south coast in January.
And the recently capped England U21 international admitted leaving Frank Lampard's side despite making his first-team debut against Arsenal was an extremely difficult call.
Lamptey told 90Min: 'I sat down with the coaches, family members and agents and thought about what's best for me. It was a really tough decision.
'Being at a club since the age of nine, going up through the whole system and making your first-team debut, everything happened so quickly, but I had to look at where I would get the most football and how I could take my game to the next level.
'It wasn't an easy decision, I thought about it every day. But the opportunity came for me to come to Brighton, which is a fantastic club with a really good plan for the team, and the move made a lot of sense.
'There was quite a few options to go to, but I sat down with my family and talked about where would be best for me, where could help me develop, and I thought Brighton would be the best club for me.'
Sportsmail revealed earlier this month that Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid had joined the queue of teams interested in Lamptey, with Bayern Munich and Sevilla also keeping tabs on the diminutive defender.
Graham Potter and Brighton are therefore keen to tie Lamptey down on fresh terms to keep him at the Amex for the foreseeable future.
Despite his impressive domestic form and recent call-up to Aidy Boothroyd's England U21 squad, Ghana are interested in making him a full senior international.
And with fellow Premier League stars Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Reece James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and James Justin to battle with, Lamptey will have to maintain his current performances to challenge for the England right-back berth.