Sami Hyypia came out on top for the Albion job after a number of high calibre applicants were considered.

The former Liverpool defender and Bayer Leverkusen coach will be officially unveiled on Thursday.

And Seagulls chief executive Paul Barber has revealed he and chairman Tony Bloom took their time in considering all the applicants and are happy they have got the right man to fill the Amex hot-seat.

Barber said: “We are delighted with Sami's appointment. We’re very pleased that we had time to follow a carefully constructed and private process. "As ever, the chairman has been incredibly diligent on behalf of the club.

The timing of the managerial change has allowed us to be very thorough and to analyse a number of high calibre applicants.

“In addition to our own meetings with the candidates, we were able to use the time available to speak to various people within the game - including players, coaches and administrators - who'd worked with each candidate to build up extensive profiles - and it was Sami who came out on top.”