Albion believe they have signed one of the best players of his type in Europe in the form of Mats Wieffer.

The Holland midfielder arrives from Feyenoord on a five-year deal for a fee believed to be about £25 million.

Wieffer was ruled out of the current Euros by injury but had started pre-season training with the Eredivisie outfit.

He will help Albion in an area where they did fully replace Moises Caicedo last season.

Announcing the transfer, technical director David Weir said Albion had admired Wieffer for some time.

Weir added: “He has a lot of experience in the Champions League as well as the Eredivisie and has developed into one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe.

“We obviously have Dutch players here already in Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke and Joel Veltman and I’m sure they will help Mats settle into the club. We’re looking forward to helping Mats’ career develop with Brighton.”

Wieffer made a huge impression in two years at Feyenoord.

He said: "It has all happened very quickly.

"Next week I hope to be able to personally say goodbye to the people at Feyenoord with whom I have worked so intensively in recent years."