Brighton sign German defender

The 29-year-old passed his medical at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre this morning, and joins Albion on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Seagulls manager Chris Hughton said: “I’m delighted to bring in someone of Uwe’s experience. He has played at the top level in German football and we all know how high the standards are there.

“He has good leadership qualities, and along with his quality, he will add a great deal to our defensive options. He is of a really good age to integrate into the team and squad.

“He is a very popular player at SC Paderborn and it would be easy for him to remain there, but he wants a new challenge, he wants that to be in England and he has shown a great desire to join us.”

Hunemeier rose through the ranks at Borussia Dortmund’s youth academy and made his first-team debut for the German giants against Bayern Munich in December, 2005.

After six years with Dortmund, the defender made the switch to second-tier Energie Cottbus in July, 2010.

He enjoyed a successful first season with the East German club and scored a total of nine goals as the club secured a sixth-placed finish in Bundesliga 2.

After three years with Cottbus, Hunemeier joined SC Paderborn on a free transfer in July, 2013, where he was named captain.

In his first season at the club, he led SC Paderborn to second place in the second tier and the team was promoted to the German top flight for the first time in the club’s history.

Hunemeier scored a couple of vital goals in the club’s promotion-winning campaign, including the winner against former club Energie Cottbus.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!