ALBION are hunting for a new right-back after Southampton-bound Inigo Calderon missed a deadline for signing a new three-year contract.

The Spanish star agreed in principle to the deal but asked for extra-time for Saints to put their offer on the table.

The Seagulls wanted an answer by midnight on Friday after making the commitment to Calderon while he has a hip injury.

They have now pulled the plug on the deal and Gus Poyet has turned his attention to the search for a replacement for a player who had been in the Spanish second division with Deportivo Alaves before the manager signed him in January.

Calderon, 28, said: “I am disappointed and sad with the way it has ended. I am not a liar but maybe in football you are not meant to tell the truth.

“It'’s complicated. I never said no to Brighton. I agreed with the conditions of the contract but I wanted to wait to meet with Southampton and they understood that.

“They told me about the deadline in the last week and I thought I would have the Southampton proposal by then. The problem was I couldn’t have a meeting with them in time so I asked for another week. They said the deadline is the deadline.

“For me it is a bit early. I was not asking for much, just another week. We are only in May. I didn’t want to finish my stay at Brighton with a bad taste because I’ve had such a good time and the fans have been so good to me. It’s a difficult situation for me.”

Poyet, speaking after Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Yeovil in the final game of the season, said: "Don’t get me wrong, I like to help the players and I want the players to get as much money as possible.

“If he had come to me and said he’s got an offer to double his money what am I going to say? You cannot stop people from going but from what I’ve been told he’s had no offer at all.

"There was only the contract to sign. He decided to wait for a possible offer from another club in this division who we cannot compete with (financially). Everyone knows that.

"If somebody thinks we are the Chelsea or Man City of this division we are not, that is Southampton. If they are going to buy the players and pay more than the rest we can do nothing about it.

"We’ve withdrawn the offer. We don’t accept any players agreeing contracts and not signing. We are a proper club. He had until midnight (Friday), so the offer is gone and now he is not going to be our player, I promise you that.

"It’s simple. Six months ago nobody knew him and now he is in the spotlight because of Brighton football club, so I was expecting a little something back.

"He is injured. We took a risk offering him the contract without knowing how long it’s going to take.

"I am disappointed with him and his agent. He did the job very well for the player - he delayed things too much. Inigo was outstanding for us and we wish him well, apart from when he plays against us.”