Gus Poyet admits Albion are in new territory in their enquiries over French prospect Jérémy Balmy.

Any deal for the Le Havre reserve team midfielder remains on hold while the Seagulls attend to various matters, including compensation.

Balmy scored for the Seagulls in a friendly at Hastings last Saturday and would be seen initially as a development squad player rather than a senior recruit.

Albion boss Gus Poyet admitted: “There are a lot of things to take into account.

“His age, compensation, the wishes of the player.

“It’s a new situation for us. We have never brought in a player of that age.”

Balmy turned down a new deal at Le Havre after making his reserve team breakthrough in the French fourth tier last season.

The 18–year-old from Paris suburb Mantes-la-Jolie is seen as a valuable asset by Le Havre although there are reservations within the coaching staff about his lack of physical strength.

Le Havre have proved they can strike a hard bargain in negotiating compensation for Charles N’Zogbia and Paul Pogba when they went to Newcastle and Manchester United respectively as teenagers.

Albion complete their training trip to Spain with a game against second division Cordoba on Saturday.

Wayne Bridge (groin), Marcos Painter (hamstring) and Craig Mackail-Smith (back) are suffering with minor injuries.

They were hoping to put themselves in the frame to face Cordoba by training today.