Albion have kept hold of Elliott Bennett after rejecting THREE bids from Norwich.

The transfer window closed last night with Bennett still an Albion player, to the huge relief of manager Gus Poyet.

Chairman Tony Bloom stood firm, despite a final offer approaching £1million from Norwich for the Seagulls’ star man.

Norwich were known to have made one bid for Bennett. Now Poyet has confirmed how keen they were to land him by revealing to The Argus: “There were three. It was very, very difficult because it was quite a good offer, I would say a very good offer.”

Asked if reports of a £1milion bid were accurate, Poyet said: “They were getting close but it wasn’t about how much, it was the way they did it, the way they pushed him. They really showed an interest which made it very, very difficult, so credit to the chairman.

“It’s an absolute relief, great news for me as the manager. Sometimes we need to be selfish but I was never in a situation where I was the one stopping him or letting him go.

“I understand the situation because I was a player and I try to treat them the way I wanted to be treated as a player.

“I was worried about losing him after the second offer. It was a very tough decision, a difficult one for the club and the whole future of Brighton, so you have to give credit to the chairman.”

Three pages of Albion news in The Argus today