Exclusive: West Ham Loan Star Igor Julio Offered to Ligue 1 Promoted Side Paris FC

Brighton and Hove Albion have offered Paris FC Igor Julio, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.

The club were promoted to Ligue 1 for the first time in 46 years last season and stunned city rivals Paris St Germain in the French Cup earlier this month. 

Bosses at the club are desperate to ensure they retain their top-tier status this season and are ready to splash the cash during the winter window to stay up. 

The transfer policy is clear; the club are targeting out of favour players in the Premier League with bids in at a number of English outfits. 

Paris bosses enquired over the possibility of signing Albion centre-back Diego Coppola but were rebuffed in their approach.

However, our sources understand a byproduct of those talks was that Brazilian Julio was offered to the club in the French capital. 

Julio is currently on loan at struggling West Ham United, but the defender has not played for the Hammers since November. 

It is understood talks are ongoing between the two parties over the player, who signed for Brighton for around £15million in the summer of 2023.

Fulham’s Issa Diop and Sunderland's Wilson Isidor are also targets for the French club, with a bid for the latter already being rejected.

They also missed out on signing former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, who opted to move to Schalke instead.

Brighton themselves are ready to spend £5m to sign Charlton’s 19-year-old striker Micah Mbick, currently on loan at Colchester, who has netted 8 goals in 23 games.

On the Move

Julio, 27, moved to Europe from Brazil in 2016 when he went to Austrian outfit Liefering before an ill-fated spell at Red Bull Salzburg — where he made just two league appearances. 

He got his breakthrough with a loan move at Fiorentina, with an obligation to buy, during the 2020/21 campaign made 110 appearances for the Serie A side.

Fiorentina cashed in following the 2022/23 season where they finished runners-up in both the Coppa Italia and Europa Conference League as Julio penned a four-year deal with the Seagulls.