Kozlowski joins Vitesse on second season loan
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And Brighton are seemingly quite happy with how Kacper Kozlowski is progressing at Vitesse Arnhem as the 19-year-old Polish midfielder has been sent back to the Netherlands for a second successive season long loan.
Kozlowski scored three times and recorded five assists in 30 matches for Vitesse in 2022-23. That form was good enough to push him back into the Poland international squad two years after he became the youngest ever player to appear in a European Championships at Euro 2020 (in 2021).
Brighton signed Kozlowski from Pogon Szczecin for £8 million in January 2022. He was immediately loaned straight to Union Saint-Gilloise, making nine appearances and assisting once in the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.
His subsequent year in Arnhem has seen Kozlowski develop into a much more versatile player. Having previously been used almost exclusively as a central midfielder, Kozlowski went from middle of the park to right wing to left wing at Vitesse.
Two of this three goals and three of his five assists came from wide positions. Given the improvement shown over the course of the previous campaign, it is not really a surprise that Brighton are happy to have Kozlowski continue his footballing education in the Eredivisie.
Some Albion supporters thought that Roberto De Zerbi might want to at least take a look in pre-season. De Zerbi has been unafraid to throw in young players so far and with Alexis Mac Allister and potentially Moises Caicedo moving on, the theory went there may be an opening for Kozlowski.
De Zerbi though appears to believe that Kozlowki’s future is better served playing every week with Vitesse. And the player himself would seem to agree with that statement.
“After the previous season, I immediately indicated that I would like to play another year at Vitesse,” Kozlowski told the official Vitesse website.
“I feel at home here, thanks to my teammates, the staff and the other colleagues. And most importantly, I have noticed that I can develop myself excellently here. I hope to take great steps next season; On a personal level, but also with the team.”
Had he remained at the Albion, Kozwloski would have found himself doing battle with Pascal Gross, Billy Gilmour, Mahmoud Dahoud, James Milner, Yasin Ayari and Steve Alzate for one of the two holding midfield berths.
Whilst first team opportunities are not readily available for Kozlowski at Brighton this season, there is no doubting his talent and potential.
He arrived at the Amex as one of the most highly rated teenagers in Europe, a fact reflected by him being named on the European Golden Boy list for the past two seasons.
In the 2023 rankings of the top 100 young players on the continent, Kozlowski was rated higher than Facundo Buonanotte. Both Levi Colwill and Julio Enciso was also on the list.
More importantly, Kozlowski has plenty of time on his hands. Given that he was a full international at 17-years-old and Brighton signed him aged barely 18, it can feel like Kozlowski has been around for sometime.
But he is not yet out of his teens and with a contract at the Albion which runs until 2026, has a few more seasons at the very least until he needs to be establishing himself as an Albion regular.
