'I'm firmly convinced' - key figure in £20.8m Stefanos Tzimas deal makes bold Brighton claim amid reported Liverpool interest in striker
Brighton have been backed to take striker Stefanos Tzimas’ game to the next level.
The vote of confidence in the Seagulls’ ability to maximise the 19-year-old’s undoubted quality comes from within the corridors of power of selling club Nuremberg.
It also arrives after Liverpool were also linked with a January transfer window move for the Greece under-21 international.
Brighton signed the striker from Nuremberg on deadline day for £20.8m - handing the 2. Bundesliga side a handsome profit, after they activated the 18m euros buy option that was included in his loan move from PAOK in the summer.
Tzimas was immediately loaned back to the German side for the remainder of the season, allowing him the ability to add to an already impressive tally of 10 goals from 18 appearances for Miroslav Kose’s 10th-placed side.
The Greek forward will head back to the Amex in the summer, where he’s signed a long-term deal that ties him to Brighton until June 2030. And according to Nuremberg’s head of sport, Joti Chatzialexiou, it’s an environment - under head coach Fabian Hurzeler - that Tzomas will excel in.
He said: ‘It is something unique for 1. FC Nürnberg to carry out an international transfer, especially of this magnitude.
‘Through my time at the DFB (the German football Association) I know Brighton’s manager Fabian Hürzeler and assistant coach Daniel Niedzkowski and I’m firmly convinced that he is in good hands with them.
‘It is a great next step for Stefanos, and we wish him all the best and much success from the summer onwards.’
Tzimas’ signing came on the same day as Evan Ferguson’s loan move to Premier League rivals West Ham was confirmed. He follows Diego Gomez (Inter Miami) and Eiran Cashin (Derby County) in making the move to the Amex during the now closed transfer window.
The striker’s next game for Nuremberg is against FC Magdeburg on Saturday - a game that Seagulls’ fans will now take a keen interest in. However, sporting director Olaf Rebbe believes it will be more than just Brighton supporters taking a look in what the Max-Morlock Stadion outfit are capable of following their business with the south coast side.
He said: ‘Many people laughed at us in the summer for offering Stefanos the option to buy. As a result, the club has become more relevant beyond the borders of Germany.’