HITC understands that Borussia Dortmund are confident they are about to land a key Brighton & Hove Albion player.

This summer has been one of change so far for Brighton & Hove Albion with Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi departing the AMEX Stadium.

De Zerbi has taken the reins at French giants Marseille after turning down interest from Manchester United this summer.

The South Coast side appointed former St Pauli manager Fabian Hurzeler to replace De Zerbi but the first assignment of the youngest coach in the Premier League will be to sort out the future of key player Pascal Gross.

Hurzeler was unveiled as the new manager of the Seagulls and was asked at his first press conference about the future of the midfielder.

"I had some talks with Pascal, of course. He is a very important player," Hurzeler said. "I expressed, I think, my biggest appreciation I have for him and let's see what the future brings."

Since his move from Bundesliga side Ingolstadt, Gross has become a cult hero at the Amex Stadium and scored four goals and provided 10 assists for the club in the league last season.

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Dortmund, under new boss Nuri Sahin, are confident they are set to strike an agreement for Gross as they hope to build on their Champions League success of last season.

Dortmund also closing in on exciting forward who Chelsea, West Ham and Newcastle like As well as this, sources have told HITC that the German side are progressing with talks to sign Lyon starlet Rayan Cherki this summer.

Paris Saint-Germain had been leading the chase for Cherki but talks between the two clubs have not progressed and that has allowed Dortmund to make their move.

There has been interest from the Premier League in the Frenchman with HITC understanding that West Ham United, Chelsea and Newcastle United have all asked about the winger in recent weeks.

However, no progress has been made on this and it now appears Dortmund are progressing in talks to sign the 20-year-old.