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Brighton & Hove Albion have signed former Newcastle, Aston Villa and Fulham defender Aaron Hughes following his departure from QPR.

The 34-year-old has signed a one-year deal with the Championship club and becomes Sami Hyypia's first signing following his appointment as manager.

Hughes joined QPR in January and made 11 appearances for the R's.

"We wanted to bring another experienced defender and Aaron fits the bill," Hyypia told

Hughes, who has won 90 international caps for Northern Ireland, began his career at Newcastle and made his first-team debut in 1997.

He joined Aston Villa in 2005 and then moved on to Fulham two years later. Hughes has made a total of 466 league appearances during the course of his career.

"I have played against Aaron a few times during my time at Liverpool and also for Finland, and I know his qualities and what he will give us," Hyypia added.

"He has a very good footballing pedigree, is an intelligent player, and he has a great mentality and a good approach to the game.

"He has that experience I wanted to bring into the squad which, alongside our other senior players, will help our younger players continue to develop.

"Overall we still have some work to do in terms of recruitment, and we are all working hard to do that."