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Bart Verbruggen has kept six clean sheets in the Premier League for Brighton this season - Getty Images/Matt McNulty
Bayern Munich are preparing to make a bid for £60 million-rated Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen this summer after monitoring his stunning progress in the Premier League.
Verbruggen, 22, has been at the Amex Stadium since his £16.3 million move from Belgian club Anderlecht two years ago and has established himself as the club’s No 1 after initially sharing first-team duties with Jason Steele.
Brighton are set to make a huge profit on Verbruggen, with Bayern among teams with a firm interest in the Netherlands international, who reached the European Championship semi-finals last summer.
Former Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been at the Allianz Arena since 2011 and is currently sidelined “for the foreseeable future” after tearing a muscle in his right calf. The Bundesliga leaders have been assessing their long-term goalkeeper options and Verbruggen is understood to be at the top of their list if they can beat competition for him.
Jonas Urbig has stepped in for the last three games in Neuer’s absence, Sven Ulreich deputised for a game last September and Israel keeper Daniel Peretz also had four games in December while Vincent Kompany was without his No 1.
But with Neuer turning 39 this week, the club have been looking at long-term possibilities regardless of the incumbent’s injury comeback date.
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At the age of 39, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is in the autumn of his career - PA/Andrew Milligan
Verbruggen’s rise is the latest on the production line of Brighton signings whose transfer value has increased while at the Amex, with Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Ben White and Marc Cucurella all having been signed by Premier League rivals in recent years.
The Dutchman’s six clean sheets in the Premier League this season comfortably place him in the top 10 for shut-outs as Brighton chase a European place in Fabian Hurzeler’s first season as a Premier League manager.
Brighton are seventh in the table but a fifth-place finish would almost certainly land them a place in next season’s Champions League.
They have also reached the FA Cup quarter-finals with a home tie against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
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