Brighton & Hove Albion managed to fend off Leeds United’s advances in the summer.

The Whites were desperate to sign Ben White, the central defender, and made a number of bids for the player, who had spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Elland Road.

Per Sky Sports, they bid as high as £25m for the defender, but Brighton stood firm, and White ended up signing a new contract at the club until 2024.

However, that has done nothing to dampen the desire of clubs to spirit him away from the AMEX.

Sky Sports reports that there are a clutch of clubs monitoring his progress under Graham Potter ahead of possible bids.

Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea are named as potential suitors, with White impressing thus far in 2020/21.

He has become one of the club’s first-choice centre-backs, playing primarily in a back three, and there is a desire at the top six clubs to strengthen their backlines.

United, per the report, wanted a defender in the summer but were unable to get one secured, while Spurs have a lack of depth in the position.

While they did sign Joe Rodon from Swansea City in the summer, they missed out on Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar and an injury to Toby Alderweireld has sharpened the focus on their failure to bring in reinforcements in the position.

Liverpool have watched him too, while Chelsea are keeping a keen eye on him, as Thiago Silva’s deal at the club is only for a season.

White is valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt but one has to imagine he would cost significantly more than that either in January or the summer.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

White is excellent.

Per WhoScored, he has made 10 appearances in the Premier League this season and has some genuinely excellent numbers.

He averages 2.3 tackles per game, 2.1 interceptions. 1.2 fouls. 1.5 clearances. 0.7 blocks, and a pass completion rate of 81.8%.

Sky also claim that he is the fourth best defender in the league as measured by Wyscout’s metrics, behind Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma and Silva, and Arsenal’s Gabriel.

This is a defender who gets on the front foot and does his best to win the ball back as soon as the opportunity presents itself, while he is also good at distributing the ball effectively when he has it.

It is no surprise that the top six are taking a keen interest in him but Brighton handed him a new contract for a reason; they will be desperate to ensure he stays on the south coast.