Albion have landed former Premier League marksman Paul Kitson to link up with goal king Bobby Zamora.

Kitson, released by West Ham, has accepted a huge pay cut to sign for a year on a Bosman free transfer, with the option of another year.

The ex-Newcastle, Derby and Leicester front man is likely to make his debut against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park on Saturday, but he will have to wait to strike up a potentially lethal partnership with Zamora.

The Seagulls' hotshot is out for up to three weeks with a medial knee ligament strain sustained in Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by Norwich.

We exclusively revealed last week that Albion were after Kitson. He flew down from Newcastle to open talks with boss Martin Hinshelwood and chairman Dick Knight.

Kitson trained with his new team-mates yesterday morning and signed on the dotted line a few hours later.

The arrival of the 31-year-old, who has plundered 71 goals in 264 League games, represents a massive coup for Hinshelwood and the club.

"I'm very pleased," Hinshelwood said. "It's my first signing and he is somebody we have been chasing for a couple of weeks.

"He's had a lot of experience at Leicester, Derby, Newcastle and West Ham and he's played with some quality strikers. That will help the younger players we have got in the squad.

"We have been patient, but it just shows we want to go for a bit of quality. He has played in the Premier League and hopefully he will be right for us.

"We are looking forward to playing him with Bobby. It will be a couple of weeks yet before he (Kitson) is fit, but it is great signing for the club to get somebody of that calibre.

"It has taken a while, but he has agreed with us and I am really looking forward to working with him."

Kitson hit a hat-trick in West Ham's 4-4 draw at Charlton last November. He made two further Premier League starts for the Hammers last season, plus a total of four substitute appearances.

Albion could not come close to matching the money he was on at Upton Park, but with so money clubs in financial crisis Kitson was keen to remove his name from a heavily populated dole queue and join forces with one of the country's hottest young prospects in Zamora.

"It shows he wants to come here and play," Hinshelwood said. "He hasn't come here for the financial side of it.

"It was highlighted in the press at the weekend that Premiership players are going to a lower level. They have to accept that now.

"Paul has been waiting for something in the summer, then people start playing and he wants to play football."

Zamora looks certain to miss the matches against Millwall, Walsall at Withdean next Monday and the south coast derby at Portsmouth on August 31.

The injury to his right knee will also probably rule him out of the England under 21's friendly against Yugoslavia at Bolton on September 6, although he may not have been selected in any case as Albion are at Millwall the following day.

Hinshelwood confirmed: "It's a medial ligament strain. We are probably looking at two to three weeks. It's a bit like Jonesey's (Nathan Jones), but not as severe.

"In the end we didn't have a scan. It settled down a bit better on Sunday and we just had it X-rayed."

Jones, missing since the pre-season friendly against Bognor, will play for an hour in the reserves against Crystal Palace at Carshalton tomorrow night (7.0).

Steve Melton, who hurt a hamstring before scoring in the opening day win at Burnley, is struggling to be fit for Wimbledon, but Shaun Wilkinson and Richard Carpenter are both expected to recover from knocks sustained against Norwich.

Kitson may not be the only new face in the squad on Saturday. Hinshelwood is still chasing a centre half to replace the retired Simon Morgan after Guy Butters rejected a move from Gillingham.

John Piercy, a 22-year-old ex-England youth international from Eastbourne, is training with the Seagulls after being released by Spurs.

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