Aston Villa & Everton are among the suitors for a thrilling young winger - but his best bet would be Brighton

Here’s a good way to get your name in the headlines – when you come on as a substitute for your senior debut, simply blast downfield from the left wing, comfortably stripping an opposing defender for pace in the process, and score against Barcelona like you’ve been doing it all your life. As Stanis Idumbo is finding out, it makes a lot of people sit up and take notice.

The Belgian winger – who can play as a number ten but is more typically seen cutting in from the left – had only been on the pitch for 17 minutes in professional football when he scored for Sevilla against the La Liga leaders two weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was a consolation in a 5-1 rout. More fortunately, it seems to have sparked a sudden surge of interest in the Premier League and elsewhere.

Caught Offside claim that Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton are all interested, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Benfica keeping an eye on his progress. But is he ready for a big move?

These days, of course, Sevilla isn’t a final destination but a stepping stone along the way in a successful career – continental qualification feels some way off for a side that made the Europa League their own for so many years. So even though the 19-year-old only signed from Ajax in January without making a senior appearance there, it doesn’t necessarily feel unreasonable to hear reports that he’s attracting interest elsewhere. Sevilla have plenty of history, but are a selling club as it stands.

Not that it’s likely that Idumbo – who happens to be among the best young players in the most recent iteration of Football Manager – moves in January, or that any of the clubs linked with him make a move until they have a little more information to go on. His youth career with Jong Ajax and Sevilla Atlético has been impressive and he has a body of work with Belgium’s age-group sides, but he also has just three senior appearances and one start to his name. That goal against Barcelona won’t move the needle on its own.

But there are plenty of positive signs for Idumbo’s admirers. He’s fast and excellent at spotting opportunities and seizing on them at speed, whether it’s a chance to force a turnover and pressure a defender or a chance to dart into space to latch onto a direct pass. He isn’t a regular goalscorer but has shown impressive composure in front of goal when required and can hit the ball cleanly with both feet. He has excellent close control and technique and has turned more than a few young defenders inside out through the course of his academy career.

In other words, he’s the archetypal modern inside forward – a threat in the final third on and off the ball, plays with high energy and high speed and has the technique and willingness to take defenders on to break lines and create havoc. It’s easy to see why some of the teams allegedly lining him up might be keen.

In terms of the Premier League sides, he certainly seems a lot like the Brighton type, especially given his tenacity in the high press and pace on the counter. A club like Everton might have a hard time persuading him to sign unless the incoming owners throw the cash around with a certain amount of abandon, but he meshes neatly with the current direct style of football being played at Goodison Park. Aston Villa aren’t above playing with pace and verticality, either, although they don’t necessarily employ inside forwards in the Idumbo vein – it’s not a huge reach to imagine him providing competition for Morgan Rogers, though.

Brighton would definitely be the most natural fit if he did move, though, not just in terms of playing style but because of Brighton’s reputation as a place for young talent to develop. Not that they necessarily need any more young wingers to work on – they’re not short of options up front after all - but their hit rate with young attacking talent is impressive, and Idumbo’s physical and technical attributes play into the style of football that has been developed at the club since Graham Potter took charge.

But regardless of these reports, it seems unlikely that Idumbo will move on before the summer. He’s only just broken into the first team of a side that he joined on a four-year contract less than a year ago, and even the Caught Offside story hedges its bets by hinting that Sevilla may demand a very large fee for him.

These stories may be a signal that Europe’s best youth scouts are extremely excited by him – but may also just be inaccurate speculation caused by an exciting start to his senior career. For now, he’s a Sevilla player, and the likes of Brighton will have to wait, but he would fit a stylistic thread that has been woven through the way the Seagulls play that makes the rumour a tempting to one to keep an eye on. Even if he goes nowhere for some time, he’s one to watch closely, with talent to burn and a bright future in front of him.