Brighton and Hove Albion sign David Button from Fulham
David Button has become Brighton and Hove Albion’s second goalkeeper signing of the summer, joining from Fulham for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be in the region of £4m.
The former Tottenham Hotspur youngster has signed a three year deal with the club and will provide back up for Maty Ryan, while also being another player to count towards the home grown quota that had been decimated following the departures of Liam Rosenior and Steve Sidwell and Connor Goldson’s £3.5m move to Rangers.
With Ryan set to miss up to seven games through December, January and February when Australia defend their Asian Cup crowd in the United Arab Emirates, Hughton has been keen to bring in quality cover following the departures of Tim Krul and Niki Maenpaa.
The signing of Jason Steele from Sunderland had raised some eyebrows but Button’s arrival should make it clear that Steele will be taking on the Maenpaa role as third choice with Button installed as Ryan’s back up.
That’s a role he fulfilled in the second half of Fulham’s promotion winning campaign last time out. He had begun the season as Slaviša Jokanović’s first choice, only to lose his place to Marcus Bettinelli for the second half of the campaign as the Cottagers secured their place in the top flight with a play off final win over Aston Villa.
Button played 60 times for Fulham over the course of his two seasons at Craven Cottage after joining from Brentford in the summer of 2006, having played 141 times for the Bees on their rise from League One to Championship promotion contenders under Uwe Rosler and then Mark Warburton.
Prior to joining Brentford, he worked with Albion goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts at Charlton Athletic. That suggests that Roberts would have had some say over his arrival which is an encouraging sign given the excellent coach he has proven to be over the last three seasons, turning David Stockdale from a man who liked too many Gregg’s into the Championship’s Goalkeeper of the Season and ironing out some of the problems that Ryan had during his first few games last season.
He has also enjoyed loan spells with – deep breath – Grays Athletic, Rochdale, Plucky Little Bournemouth, Luton Town, Dagenham and Redbridge, Crewe Alexandra, Shrewsbury Town, Plymouth Argyle, Leyton Orient, Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley during his time at first club Spurs, racking up nearly 300 career games along the way.
We have a decent record at signing goalkeepers from Fulham, with Mark Walton and Stockdale two to have represented both clubs since the turn of the millennium.
Fingers crossed that Button has less of a liking for getting into Twitter arguments with supporters and KFC Bargain Buckets than Stockdale did.
