Brighton complete signing of Diego Coppola | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion have announced the signing of defender Diego Coppola from Hellas Verona.

The 21-year-old joins the club on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee reportedly worth £9 million.

"Diego is an exciting addition for the club," Seagulls boss Fabian Hürzeler said about his new signing.

"Although he is still young, he is tall, strong and mobile and he will give us a real physical presence.

"He has made impressive progress in Serie A and deserved his call-up to the Italian national team. We look forward to helping him develop even more."

Coppola was one of the stand out young defenders in the 2024/25 season finishing the campaign with 72 interceptions in total – the most from any player in Europe's top five leagues.

The centre-back also ranked second for aerial duels won in Serie A (133) and third for clearances (194).

Coppola is Brighton's fourth signing of the summer, following in the footsteps of Tom Watson, Yoon Do-young, and Charalampos Kostoulas.