The 19-year-old has been central to Brighton's best week in years. He came off the bench to score the goal that started their Carabao Cup comeback at Old Trafford, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win over Manchester United, before setting up Maxim De Cuyper's winner. Three days later he struck again from range in a 3-0 win over Arsenal, the reigning champions, at the Amex.
That form has fuelled talk that Charalampos Kostoulas, known to everyone as Babis, could follow the path Brighton have made a habit of: buying young and selling for many times the price.
Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, João Pedro and Carlos Baleba all left for Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United respectively after developing at the Amex, and Moïses Caicedo's £115 million move to Chelsea in 2023 remains the club's record sale.
Football runs in the family. Kostoulas's father, Athanasios, made over 200 appearances as a centre-back for Olympiacos across an eight-year spell, winning seven league titles and two domestic cups. He began at Agia Anna, in his father's hometown of Volos, before he and his older brother Konstantinos joined Olympiacos's academy in 2019.
The rise through the ranks was rapid. Kostoulas scored 23 goals and set up nine more in 51 youth appearances, earning the nickname "Babistuta" for his resemblance to Argentina great Gabriel Batistuta, and in 2024 he and Konstantinos helped Olympiacos's under-19s win the UEFA Youth League, the first European honour for any Greek club at any level. He was promoted to the first team soon after, and became Olympiacos's youngest-ever league scorer, aged 17 years, five months and 11 days, against rivals PAOK.
That breakthrough season, in which he helped Olympiacos to a domestic double and a Europa League last-16 run, drew interest from Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and AC Milan, but Brighton won the race in 2025 for a reported £30 million, agreed through Greek agent Giorgos Panou.
Head coach Fabian Hürzeler eased him in gradually during his first season, though there were flashes of his talent, including an overhead kick that rescued a point against Bournemouth. This season he has gone up another level, with four goals and three assists in eight appearances in all competitions.
Kostoulas is now away with Greece for Nations League games against Serbia, Germany and the Netherlands, where he will link up with Konstantinos, who plays for OFI Crete and helped them to a domestic cup double last season. The brothers, close off the pitch as well as on it, are not due to play together, since Konstantinos remains with the under-21s.
If the goals keep coming, the suitors who missed out two years ago may return, and this time Brighton would demand far more than £30 million.