Shakhtar Donetsk have rejected an offer from Brighton for Mykola Matviyenko.

The Daily Mail says Brighton have had an opening £10m offer rejected Matviyenko.

The south coast club have been in talks with their Ukrainian counterparts in recent days and have now made a formal bid for the 26-year-old.

However, they appear to have fallen some way short of Shakhtar's valuation of the player, who are holding out for a fee in excess of £20m.

Brighton are keen to add cover in defence after losing Levi Colwill to injury last week.

The promising centre-back is expected be out for up to six weeks with a muscle problem.