Hurzeler: Rutter and Kostoulas can step up for Brighton after Welbeck exit

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Fabian Hurzeler is backing Georginio Rutter and Charalampos Kostoulas to make their impact following Danny Welbeck’s departure.

Welbeck joined Chelsea on a two-year deal, having finished last season as Brighton’s top scorer in all competitions with 14 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions.

Midfielder Diego Gomez was the only other player to hit double figures (10), while Rutter (three) and Kostoulas (two) struggled for form in their limited appearances.

Kostoulas, who scored a stunning overhead kick in the Premier League last term, was given just 532 minutes across all competitions, while Rutter racked up 1,968.

Both have featured in pre-season – and scored – for Brighton, and Hurzeler wants the pair to step up to the plate at the top of the pitch.

“We have two really good strikers, with Georginio Rutter and with Kostoulas, who didn’t play that many minutes last season, but who has big potential,” Hurzeler told Sky Sports.

“We’ve spoke about young players stepping up now, and let’s also create opportunity for these two.

“We need to focus on our players, to develop them in the right way, to challenge them, to also put demands.

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“It’s now your time; you have to deliver now. I think we have to be really clear and strong about that.

“On the other side, there are also dynamics in the transfer window that we have to follow.

“If there is an opportunity where we see a striker that might help us, then we might do something.”

Rutter had the third-most shots among Brighton players in all competitions in 2025-26 (47, 17 on target) but finished the campaign with a 6.4% conversion rate.

The German averaged a goal every 656 minutes, while Kostoulas scored every 266 minutes.

The 19-year-old got eight of his 25 attempts on target and had a slightly better conversion rate of 8% than Rutter.

Brighton will open their season with a Conference League play-off before kicking off the Premier League campaign against Aston Villa.

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