Brighton & Hove Albion vs VfL Wolfsburg
Brighton welcome VfL Wolfsburg to the Amex Stadium on Saturday as both clubs put the finishing touches to their pre-season preparations.
In Fabian Hurzeler’s first campaign as head coach, Brighton finished eighth in the Premier League and narrowly missed out on European qualification. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg have a new man at the helm after Paul Simonis took the head coach job this summer after the Wolves finished 11th last term.
Brighton have a tasty Premier League opener against Fulham on Saturday 16th August, while Wolfsburg have a winnable first Bundesliga game away to Heidenheim a week later. Both managers will be working at full tilt to make sure they are ready. This Club Friendly is a good measure for both as to where they are at right now.
Hurzeler happy to stick
The Seagulls were well in the chase for Europe until the final week of the 2024-25 season and the 32-year-old Hurzeler recovered well from a midseason slump to return to the impressive form of his first 10 games or so in the dugout.
He has seen some big outgoings in the summer transfer window and has made some signings, and Hurzeler recently said to the press that he didn’t expect any more major moves before the new Premier League season starts.
The sale of forward Joao Pedro to Chelsea made big Club Friendly 2025 news. Here at SBOTOP, we watched the 23-year-old Brazilian star, as the Blues won the Club World Cup. And following Pedro out of the exit door went wing-back Pervis Estupinan to AC Milan and winger Simon Adingra to new boys Sunderland. Irish striker Evan Ferguson has also left the club, heading to AS Roma on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
An exciting reinforcement has arrived in the shape of Greek striker Charalampos Kostoulas in a £30 million move from Olympiacos. At 18 years of age, he is a bit of a gamble, though he impressed in Greece last season with seven goals in 22 appearances. Kostoulas has scored two goals in two games for Greece U21s.
Meanwhile, wing-back Maxim De Cuyper has signed for £17 million from Belgian side Club Brugge, and midfield prospect Tom Watson switched Sunderland for Brighton for £10 million.
There is more good news for Seagulls fans, as flying winger Kaoru Mitoma has pledged his future to the club after he rejected approaches from Saudi Pro League big spenders Al-Nassr and fended off interest from Bayern Munich. And Hurzeler has also said he will stick by centre-back Adam Webster, who picked up a nasty knee injury in pre-season, with no further incomings planned.
Simonis takes over at Wolfsburg
Stepping into the shoes of Niko Kovac, manager from 2022 to 2024, and Ralph Hassenhuttl in 2025, Paul Simonis has taken the reins at the Volkswagen Arena, and this is a new strategy by the club’s owners, who have relied on experienced senior coaches in the past.
Simonis began his coaching career at the age of 21 with Sparta Rotterdam’s youth teams before heading to Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch second tier as assistant coach to former Sparta boss Kees van Wonderen. The two coaches took their team to promotion before heading as a pair to SC Heerenveen. Simonis then accepted his first head coach job back at Go Ahead Eagles in 2024-25 when he lead them to a seventh place finish, their highest since 1971, and their first ever Dutch Cup triumph.
Likened to former Bayern and Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann in his approach, Simonis is flexible in his formations and coaching technique while trusting in youth, having spent much of his career as a youth coach. His cup-winning team had just five players aged over 26 in its lineup, and Wolfsburg hope he can bring out the best in their young players, handing him a two-year deal.
In terms of incomings, defensive midfielder Vinicius Souza has signed from Sheffield United in a €15 million move and striker Mohamed Amoura has arrived at a price of €14.75m in a switch from Union SG to replace Lukas Nmecha, who has gone to Leeds United in the Premier League.
Right winger Jesper Lindstrom has arrived from Napoli, and these three will join a squad which also contains the quality of German midfielder Maximilian Arnold and Austrian striker Patrick Wimmer.
The Wolves won’t count themselves as Bayern Munich’s title challengers, and the Club Friendly 2025 betting odds reckon they will finish somewhere around the mid-table again. But under a new regime, there is a fresh optimism in Wolfsburg.
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