Seagulls Sign Goalie And Extend Two Other Contracts

Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen has signed with Brighton & Hove Albion with a five-year contract and Ed Turns and Joel Veltman have extended theirs.

Verbruggen from Anderlecht, has signed for five years until June 2028. The 20-year-old arrives having won Anderlecht’s 2022/23 Player of the Season; he also received his first call-up to the Netherlands senior squad in March this year.

Men’s first-team head coach Roberto De Zerbi said:

“I am very pleased to have signed Bart.

“He is used to playing a type of football similar to ours and he will have no problem fitting into our group.

“He has the potential to become a very important player for the club in the coming years.”

Bart began his career with his hometown club NAC Breda, before moving to Belgium in 2020, making his debut for Anderlecht in May 2021 in a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge.

Having begun the 2022/23 season as Anderlecht’s backup keeper, he was handed his first league start of the campaign on Boxing Day. 

Bart started every league game from that point on, and helped his team reach the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.

He made his Netherlands Under-21 debut last month in a 0-0 draw with Japan, having also represented his country at Under-18 level.

Ed Turns has also signed a new contract that runs until June 2025, with a club option for an extra year.

Technical director David Weir said:

“We’ve been really pleased with the way Ed has continued to develop and that was reflected in both his inclusion in the first-team squad here last season, and the success of his time with Leyton Orient.”

The defender joined the club as a 14-year-old, progressing through the youth ranks before making his full first team debut in a 2-0 win over Swansea City in the Carabao Cup in September 2021.

The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan with Leyton Orient, as they finished top of League Two.

Ed has made two senior appearances with Albion, while he made 16 League Two appearances for Orient last season.

And Joel Veltman has also signed a new two-year contract until June 2025.

Roberto De Zerbi said:

“I am very pleased that he has extended his contract. He is a good example to the other players, and he will be a key and important player for us.”

Joel is an Ajax academy graduate and made his first team debut in 2012, going onto play 246 games for the 36-time Eredivisie champions.

In his time there, he would win the league three times, the KNVB Cup in 2019, finish as a runner-up in the Europa League in 2017 and reach the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.

He has been a regular for the Seagulls in his three years here and he made 31 Premier League appearances last season, helping the Albion finish sixth and qualify for European football for the first time in their history.

In total Joel has made 106 appearances for the club since he joined from Ajax in 2020.

His experience, they say, will be key in the club's first-ever Euro campaign in this season's Europa League.