Albion have had a second offer for Dutch under-21 international centre-half Virgil van Dijk rejected by his club Groningen.

Seagulls made the bid today after manager Gus Poyet flew to Holland to watch van Dijk in action yesterday.

But their increased offer is still not enough to persuade Groningen to sell.

Hans Nijland, Groningen's general manager, revealed to The Argus: “Brighton have made another offer today but we have rejected it.

“We've had two serious offers from them but not an offer that makes us think we should do a deal now.

“We do not want to sell Virgil in the window (January) because we need him too much.

“He is a key player in our team. We are struggling and we need him for the rest of the season.”

Albion are desperate to sign a centre-half before Thursday night's transfer deadline after captain Gordon Greer was injured in Saturday's FA Cup defeat against Arsenal.