Brighton have appointed fast-rising German manager Fabian Hurzeler as the club’s new manager to replace Roberto De Zerbi.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed Brighton have agreed terms with St Pauli for the German professional manager with personal terms settled as well.
Fabian Hurzeler will be announced by the club with the official unveiling expected to follow soon as the Seagulls prepare to get to gears ahead of the next campaign.
The Bayern Munich Academy product has reportedly agreed to a three-year contract and will resume duties at the club this summer.
He will replace Roberto De Zerbi who ended his contract with the club on mutual agreement after transfer policy fallout with the club’s chairman Tony Bloom
Who is Fabian Hurzeler?
Fabian Hurzeler is a German professional football manager and former player. Hurzeler recorded minimal success in his professional career but seems to have turned his fortunes around as a manager. The 31-year-old was born in Houston Texas, in the United States on 26 February 1993. He played as a defensive midfielder but had to call time early on his career as his luck couldn’t see him through.
Just like every big German footballer, Hurzeler would have been one of the German football icons had he made headway in his career. The 31-year-old first had spells with Helios Daglfing youth. He was then transferred to Bayern Munich youth academy in 2008.
After three years with the club’s youth academy, Hurzeler made his debut for the Bayern Munich reserve team in 2011. He made 36 appearances for the side, scoring three goals.
Despite a promising run with the Bundesliga reserve side, he failed to break into the team’s Senior lineup. With an uncertain football future with the Bavarians, Hurzeler moved to the Hoffenhheim reserve team in 2013, where he made 29 appearances for the club, scoring 5 goals.
Hurzeler spent only a season with the Hoffenhheim reserve team and joined 1860 Munich reserve team in 2014. He spent two seasons with the side, made 45 appearances, and scored 2 goals before moving to Pipinsried in 2016. He played for four years with Pipinsried, making 87 appearances for the club, and scoring 3 goals.
Hurzeler’s last career stop was at EmsbutterTV before he called time on his career in 2022.
Managerial career
Before calling time on his career, the 31-year-old has his first shot at managerial duties while still maintaining an active playing career. He joined Pipinsried in 2016, not only as a player but player-manager.
He also took up a coaching role, but as assistant manager, with Germany U-18 and U-20 in 2018.
After his spell with German youth teams, Fabian took up an assistant manager role with German second-division side St Pauli in 2020. All this while, he was still balancing coaching duties with his playing.
Two years later, the German would switch to a full-time management role after St Pauli sacked his head manager Timo Schultz. He recorded instant impact with the club, returning them to winning ways. After an impressive two-year run, Hurzeler finally led St Pauli to the German first division.
His standout campaign with the German second-division side brought Hurzeler to the limelight, enabling him to secure the big Brighton offer.
