Who is new £22m Brighton striker Stefanos Tzimas?

Brighton have completed the signing of 19-year-old Greek striker Stefanos Tzimas from FC Nurnberg for a fee of £22 million.

The forward has netted 10 times in 17 appearances in the Bundesliga 2 this season. It looks like a massive amount for a player from a midtable second tier German side, although Tzimas had done enough to attract the attentions of Liverpool, Spurs and Aston Villa before the Seagulls swooped to bring him to the Amex.

Albion fans though will have to wait to see Stefanos Tzimas in a Brighton shirt. Despite Evan Ferguson looking set to join West Ham on loan for the remainder of the season, the Albion are allowing Tzimas to remain with Nurnberg until the summer.

It means Brighton navigating the next four months with Danny Welbeck is the only out-and-out number nine in the squad.

Keep an eye out for the WAB sweepstake of how many days it is after the January transfer window slam shuts that Welbeck pings his hamstring, leaving Hurzeler fitting Joao Pedro or Georginio Rutter in as square pegs in the round centre forward hole.

But we are of course sure the Albion know exactly what they are doing. So let us turn attention back to Stefanos Tzimas and what Brighton can expect him to bring to the party.

Stefanos Tzimas – PAOK to Nurnberg to Brighton

To say the rise of Tzimas has been quick would be an understatement. He came through the ranks at PAOK Salonika, making his debut aged only 17.

His first PAOK goal came in his second game. Tzimas would go onto net five times and claim one assist in 30 matches for PAOK, although that only tells part of the story.

Most of those appearances came from the bench, meaning his five goals were returned from 462 minutes of first team football. He therefore averaged a goal in Greek football every 92 minutes.

Nurnberg were suitably impressed and so struck a loan deal last summer with PAOK for Tzimas. It included a £15 million buy option, which Nurnberg activated earlier in January so as to pocket a £7 million profit themselves by selling him onto the Albion.

A traditional number nine versatile enough to play on the left

Tzimas has managed to catch the eye despite playing for a Nurnberg side currently floundering around in midtable.

He has spent most of this season playing as a traditional number nine. At 6’1, he has the height of a target man and is subsequently very good in the air.

But he is also deceptively quick. Tzimas played off the left wing coming through the ranks at PAOK and in the Greece national setup, where he scored 16 goals in 32 matches between Under 16s and Under 19s levels.

Tzimas is clinical in one-on-one situations. He has also been praised for his intelligent movement off the ball and ability to bring others into play.

All of which means there is a touch of the Welbecks about him. By signing Stefanos Tzimas, Brighton will be hoping they have found a long-term successor to Dat Guy.

Can Tzimas make the step up from Bundesliga 2 to Premier League?

The difference between Bundesliga 2 and Premier League is obviously huge. Just ask Fabian Hurzeler how he is finding it, having just overseen the second-heaviest defeat in Brighton history.

This partly explains why the Albion have loaned Tzimas straight back to Nurnberg. As a young player still learning the game, he needs more experience and minutes under his belt to work towards becoming good enough for the Premier League.

What can help Tzimas is the way Hurzeler sets up Brighton. Presuming The Youngest Permanent Manager in Premier League History keeps his job for the next couple of years.

Through the first three months of the season before Welbeck was injured, Hurzeler coaxed from Dat Guy his best scoring form in over 10 years.

There are not many players whose output has improved under Hurzeler so far. Welbeck though has been the undoubted success story. Enough to see him linked with an England recall.

The requirement – almost reliance – on a number nine with Welbeck’s skillset partly explains why Brighton are happy to discard Ferguson with his different attributes – even if it leaves Dat Guy as the only striker at the Albion.

If Tzimas proves to be a younger, Mythos drinking, gyros eating version of Welbeck, there is every chance he thrives with Brighton.

Only time will tell. With no signing from the £193 million summer spending spree yet to set the world alight other than Rutter, the smallest of doubts have started to creep in over whether Tony Bloom’s famous algorithms are working as well as they once did.

Fingers crossed Tzimas is the man to end those questions. And fingers crossed that Welbeck doesn’t get injured between now and May, with Ferguson at West Ham and Tzimas in Nuremberg.