Brighton and Hove Albion have officially confirmed the signing of Pervis Estupinan from La Liga outfit Villarreal. The Ecuadorian international has moved for a fee reportedly around the £15m mark and has put pen to paper a five-year contract that will keep him at the Amex till the summer of 2027.
The Seagulls will be hoping that Estupinan replicates the success that Marc Cucurella, the club’s previous left back, had on the South Coast. Cucurella, like Estupinan, arrived from a Spanish club last summer and had an impressive debut season that saw Chelsea shell out more than £60m for him recently, essentially giving Albion a 4x return on their investment.
Somewhat interestingly though, Brighton are not Estupinan’s first English club. He had signed for Watford in 2016 but left Vicarage Road without making a single first team appearance for the Hornets. The 24-year-old had loan spells at Granada, Almeria, Mallorca and Osasuna before making a permanent switch to Villarreal two seasons ago.
Brighton are unbeaten in the Premier League this season- they beat Man Utd in their opener before drawing against Newcastle over the weekend. Their next fixture is against West Ham, who have lost both of their league games so far.
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