After much speculation it has today been confirmed by Brighton & Hove Albion, the signing of Goalkeeper David Stockdale from Fulham, a fee believed to be around the 1 million pound mark.
Since the departure of Tomasz Kuszczak it has been inevitable that Brighton needed to sign a replacement Goalkeeper as number 1. That’s now one box ticked by Hyypia and the Brighton board. Stockdale (aged 28), Walton (18) and Ankregren (34) will be a great mixture of experience and youth for Brighton’s goalkeeping line up this season. No doubt that having Stockdale and Ankregren around will really help young Christian Walton to continue his fantastic development.
Manager Sami Hyypia told the Seagulls website “We are delighted to have completed David’s signing from Fulham, and I am pleased to welcome him to the club.It is a transfer we have been working on for some time – and David is a goalkeeper with excellent pedigree. He has got very good experience of the Premier League and Championship, but at 28 is in his prime”
Goalkeeping coach Antti Niemi played alongside Stockdale at Fulham, and Hyypia added, “Antti knows David very well from their time together as players at Fulham. He knows his strengths and attributes, and David was on the fringes of the England senior squad not too long ago. Alongside Casper Ankergren and Christian Walton, David’s arrival means we are satisfied with our goalkeeping options ahead of the new season.
We still have some work to do in other areas in terms of recruitment, but we are making good progress and this is an excellent signing and another quality addition to the squad.”
Earlier today I spoke to Fulham fan George Keith and Brighton fan Tom Hebditch to get there perspective on the deal:
@GeorgeKeithFFC: I was surprised when I first heard about the rumour, Stockdale is definitely worth a lot more than 1 million. I doubt we would sell him without a replacement in line so I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem. Perhaps he’s fallen out with someone behind the scenes or maybe even Stekelenburg’s likely to stay. Stockdale has always loved the club and fans so it’s a big surprise. He’ll do a decent job at Brighton. Overall I can’t say we’ll miss him too much though and I still fancy us to finish in the top 6.
@tomhebbo: Good keeper, perfect replacement for Tomasz Kuszczak who was instrumental in our last two seasons, a good start to the week for Brighton fans!
Stockdale’s first game could be the final pre-season outing for Brighton at home to Southampton on Thursday 31st July.
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