Brighton starlet Tzimas ruled out until 2026 with season-ending injury | OneFootball

Stefanos Tzimas has been ruled out for the rest of the season after tests revealed the Brighton & Hove Albion striker suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

The 19-year-old sustained the injury during his first Premier League start in the 4-3 defeat to Aston Villa on 3 December.

He twisted his knee while closing down Pau Torres and required treatment before eventually limping off after 24 minutes.

Fabian Hurzeler described it as a long-term problem in his press conference before Brighton’s 1-1 draw with West Ham and said the striker was set to be out for months.

Subsequent assessments have confirmed the severity, and surgery will keep Tzimas sidelined until pre-season in 2026.

The setback comes at a moment when the teenager was beginning to make progress at senior level after joining from Nurnberg for £20 million in the summer.

Tzimas had scored his first Premier League goal just three days earlier, coming off the bench to seal Brighton’s 2-0 win away to Nottingham Forest.

He had also delivered in the Carabao Cup, scoring twice in a 6-0 victory at Oxford United as part of a run that had begun to justify his fast-tracked involvement under Hurzeler.

Across 12 appearances in all competitions he contributed three goals and had shown increasing confidence as he pushed for more regular minutes.

His enforced absence removes a developing option from Brighton’s attacking line, although it does not automatically influence the future of Evan Ferguson, who is on a season-long loan at Roma.

Brighton consider Ferguson to be a different type of striker and are not expected to alter their plans despite the gap created by Tzimas’s injury.

Ferguson has endured a challenging campaign in Italy, scoring once in 14 matches in all competitions and struggling to secure a consistent run in the starting lineup.

Roma face Celtic in the Europa League on Thursday and Gian Piero Gasperini discussed Ferguson’s situation while speaking to Italian media ahead of the fixture.

He said the striker has been given opportunities and stressed that selection depends on performance rather than potential.

Gasperini added that Ferguson remains young enough to improve and pointed to Mario Hermoso’s rapid influence as an example of how players can shape a squad once they adapt.

He expressed hope that Ferguson can reach a similar level of contribution but offered no suggestion that Roma plan to cut short his loan.

Brighton will now begin preparing for the remainder of the campaign without Tzimas, whose long-term recovery will run deep into next season’s build-up.