Brighton sign record-breaking Poland midfielder Kacper Kozlowski
Brighton have signed the Poland midfielder Kacper Kozlowski, who last summer became the youngest player to play at a European Championship. The 18-year-old has joined from Pogon Szczecin for £8m on a contract to June 2026 but will go straight on loan to the Belgian club Royale Union St-Gilloise.
Kozlowski made history when, aged 17 years and 246 days, he came on for Poland against Spain at Euro 2020, breaking a record set less than a week earlier by England’s Jude Bellingham.
“His style of play suits us and our style,” said Brighton’s manager, Graham Potter. “During my time here, we have done very well in recruiting players for the future and Kacper is a similar signing.
“He will initially head out on loan, as it is important for him to continue his development, and he is keen to continue playing regularly. We will be watching with interest, as he is a very exciting young talent.”
Kozlowski made his first-team debut for Pogon aged 15 years and 215 days as a last-minute substitute and has played six times for Poland. He was unable to train for almost six months from January 2020 after suffering injuries, including to his spine, in a car crash.
Bournemouth are set to beat off Premier League competition to sign Fleetwood Town’s James Hill. The England Under-20 defender, who was called up to the England Under-21 squad last year before having to withdraw through injury, attracted numerous bids in this window amid interest from elite clubs across Europe, with Barcelona sending a scout to watch the 19-year-old in November.
But Bournemouth are poised to land the centre-back, whose father, Matt, played for Bristol City and Preston. The fee will represent a Fleetwood club record, surpassing the £1.25m they received for Jamie Vardy in 2012. Hill will undergo a medical on Wednesday and is set to be joined at Bournemouth by the Manchester United full-back Ethan Laird, who excelled for Swansea during the first half of the season. Laird is expected to join on loan. Bournemouth allowed the experienced centre-back Steve Cook to join Nottingham Forest on Tuesday after a decade at the club.
Liverpool’s assistant manager, Pepijn Lijnders, is the latest member of Jürgen Klopp’s staff to test positive for Covid-19 and is in isolation.
Lijnders, who has been in interim charge of the first team while Klopp isolates after a positive test, received the result late on Tuesday night. The positive test result was received after Liverpool had requested the postponement of their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal on Thursday on the grounds of player availability and an escalating Covid outbreak.
The EFL has yet to decide whether to grant Liverpool’s request for a postponement. The club has cancelled its scheduled pre-match press conference on Wednesday, which was due to be taken by Lijnders, and have temporarily closed their first-team training facilities. The measure is expected to last for at least 48 hours.
In addition to Lijnders, the club has reported further positive tests for Covid among players and staff overnight and on Wednesday morning.
The club said the training-ground closure was down to “a rapidly growing number of suspected positive Covid-19 cases” and that the decision had been made after consultation with the relevant public health authority.
The club want the Arsenal match to be postponed after they cancelled a planned training session on Tuesday in response to a rising number of positive tests, other illnesses and injuries. Nine Liverpool players were missing at Chelsea last Sunday, and Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Naby Keïta have subsequently reported for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool said on Wednesday: “With no prospect of the current situation improving ahead of Thursday’s fixture and the potential for it to worsen, the club considers it both prudent and reasonable to ask for the fixture to be rescheduled.”