New Delhi: Brighton and Hove Albion have announced the signing of 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler as their new manager, making him the youngest manager in Premier League history. After Roberto De Zerbi announced his departure at the end of last season Brighton moved swiftly to appoint the German on a three-year deal lasting till 2027, officially unveiling him on July 2, 2024.
Brighton have recently become a club that identifies the most unorthodox managerial appointments and make them work wonders in the Premier League. After the sacking of Chris Hughton in 2019, they appointed Graham Potter as manager. Back then, Potter was an unorthodox choice as he had spent seven years managing in Sweden before spending a year in the Championship with Swansea, leading them to an average 10th-placed finish.
When Potter left to join Chelsea, they swiftly replaced him with Roberto De Zerbi, someone not many had heard of till his move to the Amex Stadium as he was managing Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. Now that De Zerbi has left, they again chose to go for a relatively unknown name in Fabian Hürzeler, although he is touted to be the ‘next Julien Nagelsmann’.
The club were looking to get Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna to replace De Zerbi, but the Irishman chose to stay with Ipswich and the Seagulls instead brought Hürzeler to the Premier League. The 31-year-old manager has huge expectations to meet and will be managing players like James Milner, Danny Welbeck, Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross, all of whom are older than their incoming boss.
Who is the new Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler?
Hürzeler is a Bayern Munich youth academy product (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Bongarts/Getty Images)
The new Brighton manager is a Houston-born former German youth International, amassing 21 caps at various levels for his country. He was a part of the Bayern Munich academy and played alongside future Bayern Munich first-teamers Emre Can and Pierre-Emile Hojberg. He was eyeing a role in management ever since his early 20s and effectively ended his playing career at the age of 23.
He started his managerial career in the amateur ranks of German football, joining FC Pipinsried in a player-manager role. After spending a few years with them, he moved to St.Pauli becoming assistant manager to Timo Schultz. Following Schultz’s dismissal, Hürzeler was given the head coach role on an interim basis which was made permanent within just two weeks of his appointment.
With that, he became the youngest manager in the second division of German football at just 29 years of age and recently guided St. Pauli back to the Bundesliga, only their second appearance in the German top flight since 2002. His success with St. Pauli is what drew Brighton’s attention and led to him being named the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history.
Why did Brighton appoint Fabian Hürzeler?
Fabian Hürzeler guided St. Pauli back to the Bundesliga in his first full season in charge (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Bongarts/Getty Images) (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
The 31-year-old has had a relatively short career as a manager and has been given a job in arguably the toughest league in the world which is bound to raise some eyebrows. However, such a huge task won’t be given to someone who isn’t worthy of the responsibility and that is the case here as well.
Hürzeler has just 18 months of managerial experience in professional football but what he’s done in those 18 months is what led Brighton to bring him in. As Sir Matt Bubsy said, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough and Hürzeler justifies that saying. He took the role of St. Pauli manager when the club were languishing in a relegation battle in the second tier of German football and managed to get them to finish the season at a respectable fifth position.
Then in his first full season in charge, he guided them to the 2.Bundesliga on the final day of the season, securing their status as a Bundesliga club for the upcoming season. He has been touted as one of the hottest young managers in the game. He plays an attacking brand of football, something that Brighton have been looking for in their managers recently and he has been likened to current Germany manager Julien Nageslmann and also to the man he’s replacing at Brighton, Roberto De Zerbi.
He had an excellent record with St. Pauli, painting a win percentage of 65% with the club in over 50 games and prefers to play with a 3-4-3 formation. He managed to stabilize the club’s poor performances under Schultz, finding the right balance between attack and defence. He plays a possession-heavy brand of football, with a back three that converts into a back two with the middle of the defensive trio joining the midfield, indicating he likes his defenders to be good with their feet.
He has a lot of potential and this certainly is an interesting move for both the manager and the club. It’ll be exciting to see how he does in the Premier League as he’ll have a lot of eyeballs on him, scrutinizing his every move but he seems to be a good fit at Brighton. He has a big task ahead of them and the pressure will be immense on his young shoulders but he looks capable enough to deliver at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton have appointed 31-year-old Fabian Hürzeler as their new manager replacing Roberto De Zerbi. The former Germany youth International has been given a three-year contract lasting until June 2027. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
