Former Ireland striker Tony Cascarino has claimed that it is not fair to put a price tag of £100 million on Ireland's Evan Ferguson.
Ferguson (19) broke onto the scene and was seen as one of the hottest properties in the Premier League last season and the early parts of this season, but since then he has struggled to hit the heights he hit before.
The Meath native has been linked to several top clubs around Europe, like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and others, with some even reporting that Brighton will look for over £100 million if they do agree to a transfer.
Cascarino believes that setting a valuation like that for Ferguson is excessive and, as of now, not worth that fee.
"When I heard the talk of him being a £100 million player, I was like, "Wow, this is over the top," said Cascarino via the Sun.
"He’s a fine player with a brilliant opportunity, but we’re way off the line there; I don’t see that at the moment.
"It’s hard for me because I am trying to judge him as a centre forward, but he’s not that for me in the Harry Kane, Lewandowski mould—I saw Harry Kane at 18 at Millwall, and I would have said he was more like a centre forward than Evan Ferguson."
Evan Ferguson is one of two Irish players on worldwide list ranking top young prospects (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)Ferguson has often been compared to Polish goal-machine Robert Lewandowski for his huge frame, but Cascarino believes that Ferguson and the Polish striker are not comparable. He believes his best position is off-centre forward and joining, and that being a leading frontman does not suit his game.
"There is a player in there, a very good player in there but I’m not convinced he’s a centre forward yet. I'm not convinced Evan will ever be Robert Lewandowski; he’s nowhere near as good a finisher as Lewandowski," he added.
"I think his best position would be off a centre forward and joining... one thing that stood out in the Belgium game was his hold-up play. He was not leading the line; he cannot lead the line in that manner.
"You have to be able to bring players in; he looks far more comfortable when facing goal. He’s better off running at the goal rather than being back to it.
"When he has his back to goal, he doesn’t do the required things up the pitch; someone has to be the springboard to do it, and I don’t think Evan is good enough at that yet, but that doesn’t mean he can’t become better."
Brighton play Manchester City tonight at 8 p.m.
