Orlandi is all lined up to join Albion

9:00am Friday 31st August 2012 in Albion By Andy Naylor

ALBION have lined up Andrea Orlandi from Swansea to fill a vacancy in the squad created by Craig Noone’s departure to Cardiff.

The Spaniard’s move from the Liberty Stadium should be completed before the transfer window for permanent deals shuts tonight after Albion agreed an undisclosed fee with the Premier League club.

Orlandi has scored three goals in 90 games for Swansea since joining them in 2007 but does not feature in the plans of new manager Michael Laudrup.

The 28-year-old from Barcelona has been converted into a central midfielder after joining them as a left winger, the role occupied by Noone.

Albion boss Gus Poyet hinted at Orlandi’s arrival yesterday when discussing Noone’s departure.

Poyet said: “I can tell you we are in the market. I had a budget and I had a quantity of money to spend and then in a day and a half that money increased a lot, plus the salary of the player.

“That doesn’t mean we are going to look for an exact replacement for Nooney. It means we are going to look for a player that can help us a bit better, maybe with different characteristsics, because it’s very difficult to find another Nooney.”

Orlandi, a fluent English speaker, will become the fourth Spaniard in Poyet’s squad, joining Vicente , Bruno and Inigo Calderon .

He played, like Calderon, for Deportivo Alves before two years with Barcelona’s reserves.

Poyet’s squad was trimmed further yesterday by striker Roland Bergkamp’s return to Holland with VVV-Venlo on a season-long loan.

Bergkamp, 21, joined Albion last summer from Dutch side Excelsior but is yet to make his first team debut and was loaned out to Rochdale in League One last season. Poyet said: “Roland is a great lad and good professional but things haven’t worked out quite as we hoped.

“At his age and at this stage in his career he needs to be playing regular senior football and this is a good opportunity for him.”

Matt Sparrow and Romain Vincelot, both told their futures lie elsewhere, could leave on loan once the window closes.

“There have been plenty of talks, plenty of chances,” Poyet said. “I think there are a few clubs that use the loan market a lot, so we need to wait and see.”

Comments(14)

Vicente_1 says...
9:13am Fri 31 Aug 12

Quality signing finally a replacement for bennett which weve never really managed to find! Noone was good but his final ball left him as a talented frustrating winger rather than a stand out one. Hope hes sucessful at cardiff but cant see him getting in i.m.o

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tug509 says...
9:21am Fri 31 Aug 12

Hope the Orlandi deal works out and we can keep him fit.Yeovil use a lot of loanees,RB would bebefit from their set up and style of play imho.UTA

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craigw25 says...
9:35am Fri 31 Aug 12

Good buy but I am worried if he's only played 90 games in 5 years he sounds more injury prone than Buckley and Vicente...

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Willie, Willie Irvine says...
9:36am Fri 31 Aug 12

Like some of you guys, I want to feel really positive about this signing but have concerns about the long spells he's on the treatment table. Seems to be another Vicente rather than a tough governor character who can boss things. Anyway the management clearly have a plan and expect him to be fit, so let's see how it pans out.

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wiseman of hove says...
9:46am Fri 31 Aug 12

craigw25 wrote:
Good buy but I am worried if he's only played 90 games in 5 years he sounds more injury prone than Buckley and Vicente...
A worrying statistic indeed. Clearly not a big money acquisition - I presume.
It would be surprising if 11pm arrived and we had not made a significant target man signing.

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tug509 says...
9:54am Fri 31 Aug 12

Sorry i was`nt paying attention in class,it states the RB loan back to Holland is a done deal,and not just an option.

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franckiep en france says...
9:54am Fri 31 Aug 12

David Villa, reported to be coming on loan, if true, unbelievable.

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Jonathan Mouette says...
9:55am Fri 31 Aug 12

Why isn't the pulse racing yet... Why can I not get over excited by all this? I was hoping for fireworks (and may still see them - who knows) but so far it has been a bit of a damp squib. Late last night there was talk of Tuncay coming frolm Wolfsburg on a free; he hasn't scored in over a year, stands at 1m82 but weighs in at just 70kgs and is hardly likely to physically dominate the box on behalf of CMS (glad to see the Canaries were told where to go by the way!). I will be glad when this transfer window is finally shut (hopefully with something to smile about) but in the meantime the nails on my firmly crossed fingers are getting a tad short !!!

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suede27 says...
10:02am Fri 31 Aug 12

Get rid of Gordon Greer, Gary Dicker and Marcos Painter too, please Gus. Thanks.

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fratsomrover says...
10:08am Fri 31 Aug 12

Hardly a signing to get excited about ! He's played a total of 48 games for Swansea since 2008 and was substituted on 21 of those occasions.
Quoted as being a winger/midfielder who would be a suitable replacement for Noone. Doesn't sound like the type of player to get us into the Premiership

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Brighton Barca says...
10:24am Fri 31 Aug 12

Vicente_1 wrote:
Quality signing finally a replacement for bennett which weve never really managed to find! Noone was good but his final ball left him as a talented frustrating winger rather than a stand out one. Hope hes sucessful at cardiff but cant see him getting in i.m.o
i agree re Noone. Great bloke, did some great footwork, can imagine great on the dance floor, but so often the final ball (or a shot) was pretty useless. i do of course genuinely wish him well. he is the sort of guy you wouldn't mind if you were stuck in a lift with.

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Cabin fever says...
10:46am Fri 31 Aug 12

Lovely positive welcome from most people for Mr Orlandi. Not.

Talk about writing someone off before they've even kicked a ball in anger for the Albion!

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Falmer Wizard says...
7:12pm Fri 31 Aug 12

When you read that in five years he has only played 90 games scoring three times you can hardly get exited,I should imagine that Swansea`s new manager delivered him to Brighton, the next signing should be an addition to the medical team.

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Falmer Wizard says...
7:13pm Fri 31 Aug 12

When you read that in five years he has only played 90 games scoring three times you can hardly get exited,I should imagine that Swansea`s new manager delivered him to Brighton, the next signing should be an addition to the medical team.

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