Former Sunderland forward Martin Smith says he is disappointed in Tommy Watson's decision to leave the club but understands the pull of a club like Brighton given their reputation for developing young players in the Premier League.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brighton agreed a deal worth £10m to sign the 18-year-old this summer.
Talking on BBC Radio Newcastle's Total Sport, Smith says: "There's been noises that teams have been interested and obviously he's been wanting away if he hasn't signed a new contract which is sort of disappointing.
"But you can half understand in terms of, if you're going to go anywhere, you can understand the pull of Brighton now because of what they're doing with young lads.