The making of Brighton forward who could develop into a £100m player

There was the sheer power of the first, then the speed and precision of the second.

As Brighton secured European football for the first time in the club's history with help from two Evan Ferguson goals against Southampton on Sunday, there was a celebration for what will be, but also a tinge of regret for what could have been.

If the kid who could become king had not been unavailable for nearly a month through an ankle injury, the south coast club are confident they would have had Newcastle and Manchester United fretting over a Champions League spot, while reaching the FA Cup final at the expense of the latter.

At just 18, the impact Ferguson has had during his breakthrough season both on Brighton's attack and opposition defences has been pronounced enough for some sharp minds in football to declare he could develop into a £100m player. No one involved in the Republic of Ireland international's formative years would mark that as hyperbole. Those working with Ferguson now believe we are being treated to a live showcase of a Premier League great in the making. Is that too much expectation and pressure on a teenager? An unequivocal 'no' is the response from those who know him best.

The early years

Karl Lambe first encountered Ferguson as a six-year-old at the prestigious St Kevin's Football Club in Dublin. "He first told me at eight that he wanted to play in the Premier League, and he said it with conviction From then, he'd hit every milestone with such focus like he was on this journey to get there, a map he'd drawn in his head. They probably seem quite insignificant now when you're talking about the bigger scheme of scoring and playing in the Premier League or representing Ireland, but for example: when we were U8s he scored five goals to win the league.

There was a newspaper heading of 'Evan sent' and he kept delivering. There was an U11 cup final that was his favourite game where he scored four and set up one. We'd go on tour and face the likes of Barcelona who had players that already had millions of followers on social media and a huge reputation, but he was the standout. He has never been out of place on a football pitch. Neil Fox, who worked with Ferguson at St Kevin's and at youth level for Ireland, chimes in: I can't remember how long we were saying 'he's something else. He's something really special' for.

When did that feeling reach the outside world? We played Barcelona home and away plus a bunch of top Europeans so in the school football bubble with academy scouts it was no secret how big the potential was, Lambe says. We played Manchester United at Carrington and he scored twice for the U10s. They hammered us but he scored the two goals and people were starting to fully pay attention to him when we came back to Dublin. A few months later, the scouts from the big English clubs used to regularly attend our games.

But at 14 when he was still here as a schoolboy, Bohemians called him to represent their first team against Chelsea and that's when it really took off. He came on and he was so direct, the dribbling, the dummies, brushing off experienced Premier League defenders. I'd assume Chelsea didn't know that he was just 14 when he was coming on and they treated him like any normal player. Ferguson had been displaying traits that belie his age long before he was exposed to a greater media glare in that friendly, which was Frank Lampard's first match in charge of Chelsea.

I go back to U8s where most kids get a ball and just wanna run to the goal and score, Lambe says. And obviously Evan was really good so he could do that, but he had great decision-making, even at a young age. You see it now with Brighton and how he's running in behind sometimes, sometimes he's dropping into space. He had that game intelligence and game understanding from as young as I can remember. He wasn't like a normal kid who'd just run around without purpose with the ball.