Ken Brown has admitted Albion will have to get used to speculation over the future of boss Gus Poyet.

And the Seagulls’ managing director wants it to continue – because that will mean Poyet is a success.

The Uruguayan yesterday dismissed on The Argus website reports linking him with a return to debt-ridden Real Zaragoza, where he starred as a player from 1990 to 1997.

Brown says the La Liga strugglers, 70 million euros in debt, would be wasting their time targeting Poyet, as Albion have beaten them to the punch. “We are happy with what we have got and everything is settled,” Brown said.

“If you have a high-profile manager and are successful then he is always going to be linked. It comes with the territory.

“We have a high-profile manager who has been linked to a club he played for. Unfortunately for them, we got there first.

“Am I surprised? I am surprised that he has been linked quite so soon but I would be disappointed if, during his tenure, he is not linked with several clubs, because that means he is doing the business for us.”

Poyet, 42, signed a deal to the end of next season when he succeeded the sacked Russell Slade eight games ago.

He told The Argus: “I have been here for a month and, of course, I am not looking to change things right now.

“This sort of thing is going to happen, because it (Zaragoza) was one of the places where I played and I had a great relationship with the whole town, but there is nothing, just rumours.

“My position is I would like to stay here, I won’t move if the chairman lets me stay.”

Zaragoza, third from bottom in La Liga, sacked manager Marcellino last weekend.

The stories linking Poyet appeared in two national newspapers in England yesterday morning but his name has not been mentioned as a candidate in the Spanish press.

Bernd Schuster has turned the job down and the favourite is ex-Spanish midfielder Victor Munoz.