The transfer contingency that could affect Brighton’s Deniz Undav as he thrives at Stuttgart

That is according to German football expert, Keven Bader, who has been mightily impressed with how the forward has settled into life in the Bundesliga.

After missing the start of the season with a knee ligament injury, the 27-year-old has been in red-hot form, scoring 10 goals and bagging three assists in 15 matches.

His form has led to speculation the former Union SG star could be sold for a significant amount more than the £6m fee Brighton paid for him two years ago from the Belgian side.

And, according to Bader, Undav, who is still not the finished article, could make his international debut in the not-so-distant future.

“Undav has performed very well. So good that he is currently eligible for the German national team in the upcoming national team break in March,” he said. “Undav is quite a complete striker. He has an eye for goals and possesses a cool finish. He is strong and creative and he has a high work ethic. When it comes to weaknesses, he could be stronger aerially. He's not the tallest and his jumping skills aren't the best.

"Coach Sebastian Hoeneß has indeed brought him in very effectively, just as he has done with the other new signings at Stuttgart. Today's Stuttgart is a collectively strong team where everyone pulls in the same direction, something Undav has quickly acclimatised to.”

Undav, whose contract expires at the Amex in 2026, may have played his last game for Brighton after scoring eight goals in 30 games for them last season.

Stuttgart have an option to buy the striker as part of this loan deal but the final price may dictate what they do with him. And Bader feels the German outfit, who sit third in the table, may sign Undav permanently, but only if teammate Serhou Guirassy, who has scored 19 goals in 16 games this term, makes a big-money exit to free up funds.

“According to SportBild, Stuttgart has a purchase option of around 12 million euros (£10.3m). The club and the future of Undav will be discussed in the spring and considering that his attacking colleague, Guirassy, ​​will most likely leave the club this winter or summer, for around 20 million euros (£17.2m), then Undav is a given candidate for Stuttgart to buy,” he said.

“It is easy to draw parallels to fellow attacker Guirassy. He was on loan at Stuttgart from the summer of 2022 from Rennes and then went to Stuttgart permanently this summer for around €9 million (£7.7m). There are many indications that Undav will make a similar journey. Given that Guirassy will be away at the Africa Cup of Nations in the coming weeks, Undav is even more important for Stuttgart.”