Babis Kostoulas is now officially a Brighton player. The 18-year-old forward was announced on Thursday evening (12/6) by the English club, in a record transfer for a Greek footballer.

Babistuta graduated with… honors from the top football academy in Greece: The same one that today still has the 22-year-old goalkeeper Konstantis Tzolakis and the 18-year-old box-to-box Christos Mouzakitis on the lists of the best young footballers in Europe.

The one that is preparing to bring to the forefront immediately Antonis Papakanellos, Fanis Bakoulas (Rio Ave), Argyris Liatsikouras, and Stavros Pnevmonidis: All of them winners of the Youth League 2024 with the Youth team of the top Greek club. And classmates of Kostoulas, who from his very first season in the professional team managed to leave his mark with performances that drove the numbers crazy. One of the best 18-year-olds internationally.

The achievements of Kostoulas in the Greek championship, with the help of datamb.football, in four specific metrics in which the Greek striker… excels. (Won) duels, actions in the opposing area, and xGoals per 90 minutes are put under… the microscope and explain why Brighton pursued his signature so intensely.

Kostoulas in all the Frays

Kostoulas, compared to all under-18 players competing in all leagues worldwide, engaged in the most duels per 90 minutes, with a total of 35.17, while in the top ten (9th) is also Konstantinos Karetsas, with 26.4.

And the ‘kid’ didn’t stop there, as he also had the most won duels per 90 minutes, with 14.99 specifically, with his performance surpassing those of Yamal (6th with 11.47) and Karetsas (8th, 11.2).

Threatening inside the penalty area too

Another significant aspect of his game is that the 18-year-old forward ‘steps into’ into the penalty area, at a time when only Yamal surpassed him in frequency, compared to all under-18 players worldwide, in the season that concluded. Specifically, the new Brighton player had 5.16 actions with the ball inside the penalty area, with the Barcelona star having 5.58, being at the top of the relevant list.

But what does he do in the… basics that a forward must have? How much does he threaten? His performance in xGoals per 90 minutes ranks him 5th among all under-18 players, regardless of their position, with 0.42. And here he surpasses Yamal (9th, 0.37), while very close to his numbers are Dapa and Egkeli, with 0.43.

With these in his luggage, Kostoulas will now find himself in the top league in the world, wearing the Brighton jersey, and will aim to continue his ‘high flights’ and why not improve them as well.