Fabian Hürzeler is the new trainer of Brighton & Hove Albion, reports Florian Plettenberg of the German branch of Sky Sports. The German moves from St. Pauli and signs a three-year contract with Brighton. At 31 years old, Hürzeler becomes the youngest ever manager in the Premier League.

Roberto De Zerbi has made a big impression at Brighton over the past two years. The Italian piloted the Seagulls last season to sixth place in the Premier League, which allowed the club to participate in the Europa League last year. Just before the end of last season he announced his departure.

Brighton could therefore look for a successor for De Zerbi and ended up with the 31-year-old Hürzeler, who managed to promote to the Bundesliga with St. Pauli last season by becoming champions at the second level.

His age would suggest something like that, but Hürzeler is a fairly inexperienced trainer. Before his adventure at St. Pauli, he had never managed a team.

“On its way to promotion, St. Pauli played sensational football,” wrote Plettenberg. “Hürzeler is a good guy. He is a bit like Julian Nagelsmann: they are both very modern, very confident, very brave. Hürzeler likes to attack, he wants to have the ball. He is not a defensive coach.”

“I understand why Brighton wanted Hürzeler. He is very ambitious and 31 years old is certainly very young, but he has nothing to lose. He always has a great bond with the players, he is a leading figure despite his age and he was absolutely accepted by the fans in Germany.”

The Zerbi now also faces a new adventure. In the past week, the Italian has been frequently linked with Olympique Marseille, which finished eighth in Ligue 1 last season. A final agreement has not yet been reached.

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