Brighton have completed the signing of Wayne Bridge from Manchester City on a season-long loan.
As exclusively revealed by skysports.com earlier this week, Brighton had lined up an ambitious swoop for Bridge to solve their problematic left-back spot
The England international left-back spent the latter part of 2011/12 on loan at Sunderland, where he made 10 appearances, having played just once for City in the Carling Cup.
The 31-year-old former Chelsea and Southampton player has been mostly surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium over the last two years, following the arrivals of Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy.
Gus Poyet had made bringing in a left-back one of his priorities this summer, and he sees luring Bridge to the Amex Stadium as a major coup for the Seagulls.
"It's difficult to say how I happy I am because it's not easy to get top-class players," he told Brighton's official website. "I'm absolutely delighted to have Wayne with us. He's been one of the top three left-backs in this country for many years.
"There were a lot of things that had to come together to make it happen. Firstly, David Platt has been great at Manchester City and then Wayne and his agent have helped a lot too.
"It was not an easy one to secure, but this is what we want at this club. He's a quality player with lots of international experience.
"Wayne has played at the top of English football for a long time. We have all got to learn from him and I'm sure that he will have a very good season with us. It's going to be very nice to sit back and watch him on the pitch."
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11679/7875620/Brighton-complete-Bridge-loan
