CONNOR GOLDSON believes shunning his agent’s advice and snubbing a switch to the Premier League with Swansea has paid off with his move to Albion.

The right-sided centre-half has joined the Seagulls on a four-year contract from Shrewsbury for a fee of around £600,000 after turning Swansea down last summer.

Goldson, 22, told The Argus: “I was two-to-three weeks into pre-season at Shrewsbury and I went back and the whole situation had changed. The new manager (Micky Mellon) came in and was upbeat, whereas the year before we got relegated and everyone was down, the whole place was down.

“It was a whole new place and I sat down with the gaffer, who I owe a lot to. He said he could see the potential in me but that I needed to play games, to mature into a leader, into a centre-half that he believed I could be, and I worked very hard last season to do that.

“Me and my family made the decision to stay at Shrewsbury and we knew that if I played a whole season of games then I had a good chance of moving higher. I just had to prove to people that I could play week in week out.

“Realistically when you sit down with your family, your mum, dad and your girlfriend, you always know if something is right or wrong and for some reason I didn’t see myself playing there (Swansea). I saw myself developing and going out on loan and getting into the team in a few years’ time. Obviously you have ambitions for yourself, but I couldn’t see myself playing at the time.

“I knew that I had to play games every week and play for a season to make people notice me and I’m just happy I made that decision because it’s given me the opportunity to be here.”

Wolverhampton-born Goldson is still with the agent who encouraged him to sign for Swansea.

He said: “I can see why he wanted me to go there. Shrewsbury at that time was downbeat, it wasn’t the best place you could be and even though we got relegated I had a good final 15-20 games of the season.

“He can only advise me on what to do and he saw the potential in me and thought in a few years I might be able to break into that team. I’m happy that we got this move together and I’m still with him. I’m loyal to him and all I ask is he gives me his opinion the best way he can.”