Sussex

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Charalampos Kostoulas has a "big season" ahead of him, says former Brighton player Warren Aspinall.

Striker Kostoulas was signed for £29.78m from Greek side Olympiacos in the summer of 2025 and made 21 appearances last season, scoring twice.

However, the 19-year-old started just twice in the Premier League and once more in both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

"It's a big season for Kostoulas," Aspinall told BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast.

"Every time he appeared last season he did something, even if it was five minutes. I think we need to give him a good crack at the whip this time, take the shackles off him and let him go.

"He is chomping at the bit and I think he can be very good for Brighton this season. I think he's raw and has everything in him. He doesn't give the defender a minute's peace. We need a striker who can stretch teams and go over the top - we don't have that player.

"Fingers crossed Kostoulas comes to the party next season. If he could get 15 goals in all competitions I would be delighted. He just needs a run of games."

BBC Radio Sussex's Johnny Cantor added: "We've talked about this striker situation a fair bit, but maybe he needs that opportunity to grow into that role with Danny Welbeck.

"I like him. He's strong despite the fact he's not the tallest - it's difficult to get the ball off him.

"There are different ways of being a good striker and he's different to Welbeck."

Listen to the full episode of Albion Unlimited on BBC Sounds

Rangers are set to formalise their interest in Brighton's Amario Cozier-Duberry after Anderlecht had a £5m bid rejected and with Hull City, ParisFC, Red Bull Salzburg and West Ham also keen on the winger. (Simon Collings on X, external)

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Adam Webster has reflected on "the most enjoyable part" of his career, after his seven-year spell at Brighton came to an end on the expiry of his contract this summer.

Webster became the Seagulls' record signing when he joined from Bristol City in 2019, and went on to make 158 appearances for the club, missing last season with a serious knee injury.

Speaking exclusively to the Albion Unlimited podcast, Webster said: "It's a bit of a strange time to be honest. It's the first time in my career I've been a free agent, so it's a bit weird.

"It was a great seven years, I enjoyed every minute of it. It was certainly the most enjoyable part of my career and I absolutely loved it.

"I was delighted to be given the chance to play in the Premier League. It was a great show of faith by the owner. I was buzzing when Brighton signed me."

In Webster's time at the club, Brighton went from a newly-promoted side who had finished 15th and 17th in their first two Premier League seasons, to four top-half finishes, a best ever place of sixth, and two European qualifications.

"I always remember all of my goals as there weren't many!" Webster added when asked about his best moments.

"Some of the games we had - I look back on some of the games in Fabian's [Hurzeler] first season with really good memories. Last game of the season away at Spurs, and Newcastle away in the FA Cup especially.

"Then under Roberto [De Zerbi], we had quite memorable ones. We beat Wolves 6-0 at home, beat Manchester United 1-0 after the FA Cup semi defeat which was special.

"There are so many to name, so many games, so many good memories. We've had so many results against the big boys. We had a lot of special nights at the Amex.

"I always felt like I had a really good relationship with the fans. Got a bit of stick at times, but that's normal. I certainly had a good connection and they've always been really supportive, especially in the downs."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Manchester United remain keen to sign a central midfielder but have cooled their interest in Brighton's Cameroon international Carlos Baleba and Bournemouth's Guernseyman Alex Scott, both 22, because of their high price tags. (Teamtalk), external

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Now the dust has settled on the 2026 World Cup, you can officially review your Predictor results for the tournament.

If you played more than four rounds, BBC Sport has done a deep dive into your predictions, tournament performance and compared you to other players.

Don't worry, though, Predictor isn't stopping at international tournaments! Pre-season has kicked off and there are plenty of friendlies and European qualifiers to keep us occupied before the new season gets under way.

So how do you fancy your chances of correctly predicting the scores for our six selected matches every week?

BBC Sport has launched a new weekly Predictor game to cover the 2026-27 season, allowing users to pick what they think will be the result from six fixtures from across the leagues.

There will usually be a Friday deadline and the game will also feature streaks, so make sure to build it into your weekly football habits.

Lock in your first round of predictions before Friday, 24 July here

If you're wondering how to play, here are a few easy steps:

• Click on the link above to take you to the selections page.

• For every match, you either choose a winning team or select a draw - once your prediction has been submitted you won't be able to change it, so be sure to pick carefully.

• Then wait for the results to roll in to see how you have done.

• Share your results with your friends and family.

• Every consecutive round you play adds one to your streak, but if you miss a round then your streak will reset to zero.

Mohamed Moallim
BBC Sport Journalist

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The Premier League's financial landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. Since 2016 total summer transfer spending has risen from £1.16bn to a record £3.19bn in 2025 – an increase of almost 175%.

On the surface, that suggests transfer figures are continuing to accelerate. Headline fees, though, tell only part of the story.

Research by Kieran Maguire and colleagues at the University of Liverpool suggests some of the Premier League's earlier record signings represented even greater investments when measured against clubs' buying power at the time.

Using Premier League broadcasting revenues as an index, Alan Shearer's £15m move from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United in 1996 remains the league's biggest transfer relative to clubs' spending power. Rio Ferdinand's £29.1m move to Manchester United in 2002 and Juan Sebastian Veron's £28.1m arrival at Old Trafford in 2001 also rank above any of this summer's blockbuster deals.

The same model suggests Trevor Francis' £1m move from Birmingham City to Forest in 1979 – English football's first £1m transfer – would equate to about £173m in today's market.

That does not mean the fees paid for Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali were modest. Rather, it reflects how dramatically Premier League revenues have grown, allowing clubs to spend sums that would once have been unimaginable.

When Jack Grealish became Britain's first £100m footballer when joining City from Villa in 2021, the transfer marked another turning point in the evolution of the market.

Only five years later, nine-figure deals are no longer viewed as extraordinary. They have become a familiar feature of Premier League transfer windows.

The next milestone may not be far away.

While no Premier League club has yet paid £200m for a player, football's financial ceiling continues to rise and the first transfer of that magnitude no longer feels beyond the realms of possibility.

• Read more on transfer fee evolution