EAGLE-EYED Seagulls fans have noted the absence of Lewis Dunk in promotional pictures amid rumours Albion’s captain could swap the Amex for Stamford Bridge.
It has been claimed that Chelsea are keeping tabs on the 28-year-old defender with some sources reporting that it could cost them £45 million to prise him away from the Sussex coast.
Pictures promoting Albion’s new kit feature first team stars such as Yves Bissouma, Neal Maupay, Maty Ryan and new signing Adam Lallana.
But Lewis Dunk is nowhere to be seen.
The centre back is being touted as the solution to the London club’s leaky defence, with the Blues conceding the highest number of goals of any team in the top half of the Premier League table last season.
They finished with 54 goals against them, 21 more than champions Liverpool.
Albion’s player of the year, an award he scooped in his first season as skipper, is also a dedicated Chelsea fan.
He is said to have idolised John Terry growing up and has a dog named Didier, named after prolific former Stamford Bridge striker Drogba.
But, after being named players’ player of the year for the second successive season last month, Dunk said he still has a lot to learn as captain.
He said: “I’ve been captain for the first year in my career and it has been a learning curve on that side. I’ve got a long way to go on that side of it and I’m enjoying the process of being a captain.”
He also said he believed the team was changing for the better under head coach Graham Potter, with Albion recording their highest Premier League points tally to date in the former Swansea City manager’s first season at the Amex.
Dunk said: “Watford away on the first day of the season was probably one of the best performances we had. A 3-0 win on the first day of the season, we couldn’t have asked for a better start. It shows how hard we were working on pre-season, including the gaffer to get his ways across to us.
“We are all enjoying his philosophies and we are getting more and more understanding of the ways he wants us to play during the season - and it showed in how we finished.”
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