The comparison is an obvious one. For Leo Ulloa in 2013, read Tomer Hemed in 2015.

Albion will be thrilled if the Israel international they signed on Wednesday proves as successful as the player he is following from Almeria to the Amex.

But, as the Seagulls’ new target man prepares for life in England, a team-mate from both Almeria and Real Mallorca has revealed why he has the temperament to cope with a big move.

Almeria right-back Ximo Navarro saw close hand how Hemed battled back from a serious injury which looked to have put his progress in Spain under threat.

Navarro reckons he has come back better than ever – and as equipped as he possibly could be for the new challenge in the Championship.

After scoring 18 goals in two top-flight seasons with Mallorca, Hemed missed the first half of 2013-14 due to a ruptured Achilles suffered at Atletico Madrid at the tail end of the previous campaign.

But he came through it – with no short cuts.

Navarro told The Argus: “The key thing about Tomer is he a really good person. He’s quite calm, he gets on well with everyone in the changing room.

“He is very hard-working. He likes to train hard and improve aspects of his own game.

“He had to work hard to get back to full fitness but he didn’t get downhearted.

“I saw him doing his work away from the group. I saw him do extra finishing practice.

“It was really hard for him to come back in his last season at Mallorca and he only scored two goals.

“But he looked a different player last season at Almeria when he was playing. He was back up to speed.”

Scoring goals was not easy for an Almeria side who were relegated on a dramatic final day of the Liga BBVA season.

They gave themselves a chance of survival by twice going ahead at home to Valencia, who needed a win to secure Champions League qualification.

But Valencia came back to win 3-2. Then, and only then according to Navarro, a move came to the top of the agenda for Hemed.

He said: “He hadn’t really spoken about a move but I know he wanted to play in a league he felt was more competitive than the second division in Spain. Of course we know what happened to Ulloa after he left here.

“I think it’s a good move for Tomer. I know the Premier League is a strong league.

“I don’t know so much about the Championship but English football could suit him. He will score goals, for sure.

“He holds the ball up. He is good in the air and we used him to defend at set-pieces, which he does well.”

All of which sounds like Ulloa. But there are other uncanny similarities.

Both have had to combine their transfer with important family matters.

Hemed recently became a father and Ulloa had to leave his six-months pregnant wife back in Almeria for the first half-season of his stint with the Seagulls.

Both scored their most notable goals in Spain against Iker Casillas and Real Madrid.

Both have already made the big break away from their home countries so have the maturity to cope with this move.

Both were spotted independently by Albion’s manager at the time and head of recruitment when they were at different clubs.

Hemed was on the files both of Chris Hughton, going back to his Norwich days, and Paul Winstanley.

Ulloa was closely tracked by Gus Poyet and was known to David Burke at his previous clubs according to an interview given to seagulls.co.uk by the latter soon after El Ciclon arrived.

Those similarities illustrate why the fact Hemed slipped out of the Almeria starting XI towards the end of last season should not alarm Albion fans.

Ulloa suffered a similar fate leading up to his move with Brazilian striker Charles taking over as first choice.

With relegation looming, Almeria coach Sergi Barjuan – the former Barcelona midfielder – pinned his attacking hopes on jet-heeled Congolese international Thievy. But Hemed remained top scorer with eight league goals.

Navarro said: “The coach preferred to use Thievy. He is a lot faster and he was looking for a different style of play.

“But Hemed played a lot this year.”

Hemed kept sunblock and aftersun in his kit bag in southern Spain.

An extra layer of clothing might be more in order during a long season in very different climes over here.

But, if Navarro knows the man with whom he worked for two years, the Israeli should cope just fine.