'Smash him' - Lewis Dunk's brilliant Malick Yalcouye admission after Brighton v Leeds United

Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk insists emerging midfielder Malick Yalcouye has the physicality to succeed in the Premier League.

Yalcouye, 20, impressed with a goal and a fine performance on his Premier League debut at Chelsea and then followed that with a man of the match display in Albion's 1-1 draw with Leeds at the Amex Stadium last Saturday.

The Ivory Coast under-23 international stands at 5ft 7in and looks a slight figure among some of the Premier League giants but Dunk has no doubts and believes the former IFK man is a "tough cookie."

Dunk: Yalcouye is a tough cookie

“I think he's shown today what he can bring to the club," said Dunk to Sussex World after the 1-1 draw with Leeds United.

"Everyone looks at him and thinks he's too small. I see him in training every day and he's a tough cookie. He'll run into any size.

"Luka [Vuskovic] is the biggest, he'll run against him and smash him. His size doesn't matter. I think he's shown today what he's about. He's another one that will keep improving.

"Of course, I think he's shown that today against a strong physical lead side. He's shown what he's about. He doesn't shy away from it.

"You look at him and think he doesn't shy away and he gets stuck in. He's been a breath of fresh air and hopefully he can keep helping us."

Yalcouye a bargain £6m

Brighton signed Yalcouye from IFK in 2024 for around £6m and has since had loans with Sturm Graz and Swansea City.

Dunk added: "His development has been incredible. In this football club you have a lot of people come back pre-season and then they go on loan.

"We haven't seen too much of him over the years. He's been in for a short period of time and gone on loan.

"This pre-season, obviously impressed. He's still here. He's been a breath of fresh air. He's a hungry kid that wants to play football and wants to learn."

“His English is improving. He's a very shy kid but we're bringing that out of him."

Hurzeler on Yalcouye

Brighton head coach Hurzeler was also impressed with Yalcouye’s back to back displays in the Premier League.

The German boss told Sussex World: “Yeah, very impressed, because Ithink it was another really good individual performance from him.

“In the end, he always shows alot of energy, he shows a lot of effort, he's good in possession, out of possession, so he showed it in pre-season and that's why we wanted to give him this chance here.

“I think so far he really helps the team and hopefully he can continue like this.”