Hurzeler agrees new long-term deal with Brighton

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• Published1 hour ago

Brighton have agreed a new long-term contract with head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

The 33-year-old German still has 12 months to run on his current deal at the Amex Stadium but will sign terms to extend his stay on the south coast.

Hurzeler arrived at Brighton at the start of last season following a successful spell at St Pauli.

The Seagulls are eighth in the Premier League, on 50 points with three matches remaining, as they seek European football for only the second time in the club's history.

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Brighton appointed Hurzeler at the age of 31 in June 2024, making him the youngest ever full-time boss of a Premier League team.

He arrived to replace Roberto de Zerbi, who left at the end of the 2023-24 season and has recently become Tottenham's new head coach.

Hurzeler led the side to an eighth-placed finish in his first season in charge, though Brighton missed out on European qualification because rivals Crystal Palace won the FA Cup.

Brighton's only Uefa campaign to date was in the 2023-24 Europa League after they finished sixth in the 2022-23 Premier League under De Zerbi, who succeeded Graham Potter earlier that season when the Englishman left for Chelsea.

That was the highest top-flight finish in Brighton's history and Hurzeler has the chance to match that feat, with his side two points behind Bournemouth in sixth.

There is an outside chance that finishing sixth in the Premier League this season could result in a Champions League spot.

Brighton still have a mathematical chance of overtaking Aston Villa for the fifth and final definite Champions League qualification place but are eight points behind with just three games left.

Hurzeler came through the youth ranks at Bayern Munich but cut short his professional playing career at 23 to go into lower-level coaching.

He later became assistant coach at St Pauli in 2020 and took charge of the team in December 2022, before leading them to the Bundesliga 2 title in 2024.

Hurzeler had been linked with a return to Germany in the Bundesliga - with Bayer Leverkusen reportedly a possible destination, external - but has been rewarded for his impressive job at Brighton so far with a new deal.

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• Brighton & Hove Albion
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