Albion manager Peter Taylor has finally landed David Lee, two years later than planned.

If Taylor had not gone to Leicester then Lee would have been playing under him at Gillingham.

Instead the former Southend regular has joined the Seagulls' promotion challenge in a free transfer swap with Matthew Wicks after months of hell at Hull.

Lee's career has been entwined with clubs Taylor either played for or managed, beginning with Tottenham.

"I started my YTS in 1996 in the same age group as Luke Young, Ledley King and Peter Crouch, who is knocking them in at Portsmouth, so we had a decent team," Lee revealed.

"Halfway through my second year as a pro I went to Gillingham with Peter Taylor. I spent three months there training with them until the end of the season and he said he would speak to me in the summer.

"When he went to Leicester he sorted me out at Southend. I signed for a year down there, played in most of the games last season and then got a move to Hull in the summer."

Lee's dissatisfaction with irregular appearances at Boothferry Park and Hull's desire to sign the similarly unsettled Wicks provided the opportunity for Taylor to take over the versatile 21-year-old's contract, which expires in the summer of 2004.

"I know what Peter's coaching is like, so there was no decision to make really," Lee said. "It never really worked out at Hull.

"I was in the team for all the pre-season friendlies and doing well, but then I was injured in the week leading up to the first game and I missed it.

"They won 3-0 and the midfield players did ever so well, so I had to be patient. I played in a couple of games but then we struggled, the team was changed back and I was coming on for 20 or 30 minutes, so I wasn't really happy with that.

"It should be good here. At Hull we were chasing promotion and I am in the same situation here, but up a division. I've got two and a half years and I just want to try to break into the team as soon as possible.

"Obviously coming up a League it is a better team, so I am going to be a bit more patient here about getting in."

Gary Hart's absence over Christmas with a badly bruised leg and the injury-induced retirement earlier in the season of Darren Freeman exposed a lack of cover in Albion's squad on the right side of midfield.

That is one of the main reasons Taylor has signed Lee, along with the fact that he regards him as a bright prospect.

"He could become an exceptional player," Taylor said. "My friends at Tottenham kept me informed about him and I would have signed him for Gillingham if I had stayed there.

"Since Gary Hart got injured we struggled for another wide right player and I think David is a helluva crosser."

Albion have also struggled for goals from midfield this season, a situation Taylor is eager to rectify.

Basildon-born Lee scored eight in 42 League games for Southend last season alongside fellow Seagulls newcomer Daniel Webb, including a sublime effort against Albion at Roots Hall and another on a Withdean quagmire on New Year's Day.

"The first one was on the first game of the season and it was my League debut, so that was a nice way to get started," he said. "The second one was a straightforward tap in really. The pitch wasn't the best that day.

"I played up front with Daniel Webb quite a lot last season, so I know him really well.

"I can play anywhere in midfield or up front. I played up front for Southend for a few games under David Webb and when I was in the youth team at Tottenham."

Lee's routine goal in the Withdean mud a year ago, which sentenced the Seagulls to a second successive 2-0 defeat by Southend, came as a late substitute.

An appearance in identical circumstances for Hull in the closing stages of their first round FA Cup tie against Northwich Victoria meant he was unavailable for Tuesday's third round visit by Preston.

Another goal when Lee eventually makes his debut, this time for rather than against Albion, wouldn't be a bad way to repay the faith displayed by Taylor.