Brighton are in advanced talks with Manchester United over the potential signing of the England forward Nikita Parris.
It is understood the 71-times-capped Lioness has turned down a number of offers from other clubs and Brighton, whose opening WSL fixture of the season is at home to one of her former clubs Everton on 21 September, are now the favourites to secure her signature on Friday, the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day.
If a deal is completed it would be another sign of Brighton’s ambition, coming towards the end of a summer transfer window in which they have already signed the England international Fran Kirby and her former Chelsea teammate Jelena Cankovic of Serbia.
Parris would be a marquee signing for Brighton, who finished ninth in the WSL last term and have publicly set out their aims to become a top-four women’s team. She has scored 17 senior international goals and was part of the England squad that won the European Championship in 2022. The Liverpool-born forward also represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics.
Earlier this summer, Manchester United triggered an option to extend Parris’s existing contract until the end of the 2024-25 season, ensuring that a transfer fee would be required for another club to secure her signature. She was United’s top scorer last term with eight WSL goals but they have signed the Norway striker Elisabeth Terland from Brighton.
Elsewhere the Sweden striker Sofia Jakobsson is set to complete a move to the Women’s Championship club London City Lionesses on a free transfer. Capped 157 times by Sweden, the former Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and San Diego Wave forward has arrived in England and is set to be registered before Sunday’s league trip to Blackburn Rovers. San Diego Wave announced on Wednesday that they had agreed to mutually terminate their contract with Jakobsson to allow her to move back to Europe.
The move will see her reunited with her Sweden teammate Kosovare Asllani, who scored on her debut for London City Lionesses on Sunday in a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle. The Sweden duo will be two of the highest-profile internationals ever to feature in the English second tier.
