Tomer Hemed has been described as the “perfect” signing for Albion.

That is the opinion of former Seagulls midfielder John Gregory who managed the striker when he was on loan at Maccabi Ahi Nazareth six years ago.

Hemed scored nine goals in 33 games despite Nazareth finishing bottom and Gregory believes he has both the ability and the attitude to flourish in the Championship.

Gregory said: “I worked with him a lot on the training ground and I would liken him to a young Alan Shearer in his attitude more than anything as he was obsessed with scoring goals.

“It didn’t matter what we were meant to be working on in training he just wanted to put the ball in the back of the net until it became second nature to him.

“He works very hard at his game. I started putting on a few extra sessions for him on finishing and then a couple of days later I noticed he was coming in at 9am to go over things by himself.

“Then he started getting a few of the young lads to come in before training with him to put balls into the box. It was just so refreshing to see someone willing to work so hard to improve.”

Hemed will automatically be dubbed the new Leo Ulloa after signing from the same Spanish club where the former Seagulls striker made his name and Gregory believes that is a fair comparison.

“He is a big lad,” added the former Crawley Town boss. “He is not quick but is a good target man, has got a great touch and will work hard for the team.

“Ulloa did really well for Brighton and Tomer is in a similar sort of mould. If anything he might be a better finisher than Ulloa and he definitely has the hunger to succeed.

“I know Tony Pullis was looking at taking him to West Brom in the January transfer window but it might have been difficult for Tomer to go straight into the Premier League.

“Going to Brighton is a great move for him as I think the Championship will really suit him. I’m sure he’ll score a lot of goals down there.”