In the traces of Tzimas
© Imago
Charalampos Kostoulas was the big shooting star in the past season in Greece. According to Greek media reports, the 18-year-old midfielder of Olympiacos Piraeus is about to switch to Brighton & Hove Albion and could become the most expensive Greek in football history. At the Seagulls, Kostoulas would meet compatriot Stefanos Tzimas, who is also in the English squad from summer.
In August 2024, Kostoulas made his debut for the 48-time Greek champion and made the leap into the top 10 of the club’s youngest players. The talent quickly developed the status as a regular and was involved in eight goals in 22 league games. His market value subsequently climbed from 500,000 to 12 million euros – it is one of the most valuable professionals in the league. As a result, German clubs such as FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund or Borussia Mönchengladbach became aware of Kostoulas.
Fabian Hürzeler and Brighton now apparently receive the contract for Kostoulas, at least when it comes to Greek media. There it is said that the club from the south coast of England pays a base revenue of EUR 35 million, which can increase by 5 million to 10 million euros thanks to bonuses. Piraeus is reported that it is ten percent. Kostoulas would overtake Konstantinos Manolas as the most expensive Greek in history, who moved to Naples in 2019 for EUR 36 million. Behind Manolas is Tzimas, for which Brighton paid 26.5 million euros to the 1. FC Nürnberg in January 2025.
According to Sunderland’s promotion hero Tom Watson and Do-Young Yoon from Daeejeon Hana, Kostoulas would be the third newcomer-all three are younger than 20 years. Brighton has earned a veritable reputation for young talents from all over the world in recent years. Moisés Caicedo came in February 2021 at the age of 19, increased its market value from 5 million euros and switched to FC Chelsea two and a half years later. The Ecuadorian is only an example of the further development of talents at Brighton – since the 2020/21 season, 17 teenagers have taken this step, which cost the replacement of 203 million euros. Kostoulas would be the next promising talent that decides on this path.