Brighton insist Leeds United loanee Ben White is part of their long-term plans

The Seagulls' technical director Dan Ashworth hailed the progress made by the central defender under Marcelo Bielsa but strongly hinted the 22-year-old will not be returning to Elland Road once his loan spell is finished.

White had temporary stays at Newport County and Peterborough United before joining Leeds last summer after signing an extended deal at Albion which is set to last until the summer of 2023.

The defender has been an ever-present in the Whites' Championship line-up this term and has quickly become one of the most promising prospects in English football.

He has helped Leeds mount a genuine promotion challenge, with United sitting top of the table and seven points clear of third-placed Fulham.

Ashworth hailed the "fantastic job" Leeds have done with White but insisted the defender is part of Brighton's long-term plans.

“We’ve been delighted with his progress and Leeds have done a fantastic job with him,” said Ashworth on the club website.

“He’s done really well, and Leeds have done great in helping him develop – he’s played a lot of matches. We’re not surprised at how well he’s done, and we rate him highly.

“He signed a new deal last summer before he went out [on loan] so when he comes back, we’ll see where we are, but he is part of our plans and a talent we’ll be looking to keep for a number of years at the club.”

Ashworth expects the coronavirus pandemic to have an impact on clubs' spending in the transfer window.

There has been no football fixtures hosted since early March and the Brighton director expects clubs from across the pyramid to be affected by the lack of fixtures.

“I would suspect there will be a correction in the market,” he added.

“I’m pretty sure every club will have been affected by this crisis in some sort of way – whether that’s revenue from supporters on a matchday, television income or something else.

“There’s been a downturn in the industry, and everyone is feeling the pain, especially the owners.

"I would imagine by default that means people have less money to spend on [transfer] fees for players and everything associated with that.”