With Ben White’s move to Arsenal expected to go through soon, Brighton have been linked with other centre back’s but could they look a bit closer to home for a replacement?

In the last couple of days, the Seagulls have been linked with moves for Liverpool’s Nat Phillips and Croatian international Duje Caleta-Car, who plays for Marseille.

However, it is understood there is no great urgency in making a move for any target at this time.

With the Seagulls in no rush to sign a replacement for White and pre-season on the horizon, they could save themselves some money by looking at their current squad and giving one of their promising centre back’s the chance.

The first and the more experienced of the two players is Leo Ostigard.

He has spent the last two seasons out on loan playing regularly in both Germany and England for FC St Pauli and Coventry, respectively.

In that time, he has made 67 appearances out of a possible 80 appearances in the league for both sides.

Last season he was also a threat from set-pieces for Coventry scoring two goals.

That form saw him earn his first call-up to the Norwegian national team in September but has yet to win his first cap for his country.

But training with the likes of Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland and Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard when he was away with Norway would have been a great experience and would have helped his development.

Ostigard is highly-regarded in his homeland and is seen as part of his country’s golden generation with the likes of Haaland, Odegaard, Sander Berge, Kristoffer Ajer, former Albion target Jens Petter Hauge and ex-Seagulls youngster Mathias Normann.

He will now be hoping to catch the eye of head coach Graham Potter in pre-season and hopefully make his first appearance for the first team since joining in August 2018 from Molde.

Potter’s key focus during the coming weeks is reviewing his current squad in training and their three friendlies. That will include players like Ostigard, who could potentially head back out on loan if Potter feels he cannot guarantee them regular first-team football.

Another player who will be looking to impress Potter over the next few weeks is Haydon Roberts.

The 19-year-old spent the 2020/21 season on loan at League One side Rochdale.

He made 26 appearances for Dale, before seeing his season cut short in April after damaging his hamstring badly in training.

Potter did use Roberts early on last season in their Carabao Cup run to the third round where he came on a substitute in the 4-0 win over Portsmouth in the first round, before then playing the full 90 minutes in their 2-0 win over Preston at Deepdale in the second round.

Robert will be looking to emulate his Albion teammate Robert Sanchez.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Rochdale.

After Albion decided not to loan him out again last season and impressing in training, he took the No.1 jersey from Maty Ryan in December and went on to be the first name on the teamsheet for the rest of their campaign.

That then saw him earn a call-up to Spain’s national team knocking Chelsea’s Kepa out the side and then being part of their squad at the Euros.

Roberts will be hoping he can have a similar impact and fill the void left by White.

His form for Rochdale saw him get his first call-up to England U19’s squad in October for their game against Scotland which was subsequently cancelled.

Roberts has played at the Amex prior to last season as he scored in their 3-1 defeat Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup back in September 2019.

The other option for Potter is playing Joel Veltman as the right side of a three.

Veltman slotted into the central of defence when White was not involved or early on in the season when he was playing as a defensive midfielder alongside Yves Bissouma.

On the eight occasions he was part of the back three, Albion kept three cleans sheets.

The 29-year-old has also played at centre back on numerous occasions for the Netherlands mainly alongside Virgil Van Dijk.

Another alternative would be to bring Shane Duffy back into the fold.

He spent last season on loan at Celtic, but after making an impressive start to life at the club he has supported since he was a young boy, the 28-year-old had a spell to forget in the Scottish Premiership.

But he will now be itching to rediscover his best form over the pre-season, and he has proved in the 2018/19 season that he can form a formidable partnership with skipper Lewis Dunk at the back.

The one thing Duffy will provide is a constant aerial threat having scored six goals in his two campaigns in the top flight with Albion.

One of the downsides for the Republic of Ireland international is the fact he is not a ball-playing defender like Webster and Dunk, who is comfortable in possession.

Duffy tends to look long rather than play it short and that hindered his chances under Potter in the 2019-20 season.