Hurzeler: Kadioglu showed why he’s important to us

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Versatile defender's return perfect for head coach.

Charlie Hanson

2025-08-23T06:00+01:00

Ferdi Kadioglu made his return to Premier League action in our opening day draw with Fulham. 📷 by James Boardman.

Ferdi Kadioglu showed exactly why he’s an important player for Albion in his first game back after a nine-month injury lay-off, according to men’s first team head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

The Turkey international was brought on as a 69th minute substitute in our 1-1 draw with Fulham, coming on as a right winger, before switching sides.

“It was his first appearance after his long injury,” Hurzeler said ahead of Sunday’s game at Everton. “He showed why he's a national player, why he's a really important player for us.

“He's very good at decision-making, he's very good at understanding the game. I think he can play several positions - he started as a right winger, he finished as a left winger, he already played as a left full-back and a right full-back. These four positions are no problem for him to play in. So it's great to have a player who has that flexibility.

“We have it with Jack Hinshelwood, now we have another one with Ferdi.”

The 25-year-old isn’t the only one who has demonstrated his flexibility, with Georginio Rutter starting the opening game as a striker.

“With the loss of Joao, we miss one more striker,” Hurzeler continued. “Stefanos [Tzimas] needs time to get up to speed. So it's a little bit of a balance thing.

“You have two strikers with Danny and with Georgi, and you need to work out how to finish a game, how to start a game, how to finish strong. So, for example, if Georgi starts, you can have replace him with Danny. If you start with both, then you need to think about who's replacing them.

“But I'm very happy that Georgi can play in both positions. He can play as the striker. He can play as a ten or an eight. So he's very flexible and that's something that helps us.”