‘We need to give Kostoulas and Tzimas time to adapt’

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Our two Greek strikers made their debuts in the Carabao Cup.

Charlie Hanson

2025-08-31T06:00+01:00

Stefanos Tzimas netted twice in our 6-0 win over Oxford United on Wednesday. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Stefanos Tzimas’s two-goal Albion debut was promising, but Fabian Hurzeler wants to give the 19-year-old Greek striker and his countryman Babis Kostoulas as much time as they need to settle into life at the club.

The summer arrivals made their debuts in the 6-0 win over Oxford United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday with Tzimas scoring his goals after coming off the bench.

“I think we have to separate the two [when we talk about them],” Hurzeler said ahead of Sunday’s game against Manchester City. “Stefanos is a little bit further ahead than Babis. I think he proved this against Oxford.

“We have seen Stef in training – he's a striker who is capable of scoring from different angles and that's something very special. So we are very pleased with him.

“Babis had his first minutes against Oxford. He's a little bit behind Stefanos regarding his adaptation, but both are doing well in training. Both are getting closer and I'm sure that Stefanos will soon be a big option for us. Babis still needs a little bit more time.

“They’ll be ready [based on] what we see in training sessions. On one side we are all happy that Stef scored, and showed why we signed him.

Babis Kostoulas joined us from Olympiacos, where he won the Greek League title last season. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“On the other side, for me, it's always important to watch the games in context. On Wednesday it was already 3-0 to us and the game was decided. Because of that it might be easier to get into a game. So it's very important that we have context to his performance. But every goal will give him self-confidence. Every performance, every minute and every goal gets him closer to the team.

“That's what we see daily in training. It's step one and there needs to be more steps for him to be ready. It might be the next step at the weekend [against Manchester City], it might be the next step is that he gets some minutes in the under-21s. We will have to figure it out together to get him ready for the Premier League."

Tzimas showed his maturity when he reflected on his first competitive appearance for Albion.

“First of all, I was happy to qualify [for the next round of the Carabao Cup]. It was a great team performance. We needed that win to boost confidence because we lost against Everton and drew against Fulham.

“I was very happy with my debut and my two goals, but now we have to stay grounded and very focused because we have an important game on Sunday against Manchester City.”