Brighton chief executive Paul Barber would love to keep Danny Welbeck at the club next season, but knows they could face competition to secure his signature.

The 30-year-old scored six goals for the Seagulls this season after joining on a free transfer in October, with only Neal Maupay (8) having scored more.

But with his contract due to expire at the end of this month, Barber would love the striker to stay.

Speaking at Albion's fans forum on Tuesday night, he said: "He did a fantastic job for us and I think anyone who doubted that Danny [Welbeck] was still capable of playing at this level have had their questions answered by the performances that he gave us.

"Obviously we would love Danny back next season.

"The plus side from what we saw is that he did a great job for us, the downside of what we saw is that makes him attractive to other clubs as well.

"Therefore we go into a position where we would love Danny to be with us next year but we also know that he is even more desirable because of the opportunity he took with us and did a good job with us.

"So we are certainly talking to Danny and we will see where we get to over the next few weeks."

Welbeck's six goal for the Seagulls was his best return in the Premier League since the 2013/14 season where he scored nine goals in 30 appearances for Manchester United.

His 24 appearances for Albion was also the most he has made in a season since 2017/18 where he made 43 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal.