Ferdi Kadioglu is heading into Brighton and Hove Albion’s European decider against Manchester United at the Amex Stadium on Sunday with an extra spring in his step.
Winning the player of the season vote among Brighton supporters shows how well the versatile Turkey international has recovered from the toe injury which decimated his 2024-25 debut season. It also confirms that Kadioglu is turning out to be the best of the nine signings the club made in summer 2024 for a combined cost of nearly £200million.
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That was an unprecedented scale of business to reshape the squad for incoming head coach Fabian Hurzeler, after Brighton had been weakened by major sales. Of those bought as immediate first-team contenders, as opposed to for the future, Georginio Rutter’s form has dropped off in his second season since a club record £40million move from Leeds United, Matt O’Riley (£25m from Celtic) has featured sparingly, and Brajan Gruda (£25m from Mainz) has spent the past four months back in Germany, on loan to RB Leipzig.
Mats Wieffer (£25m from Feyenoord) has been turned by Hurzeler from a defensive midfielder into a right-back, and though Yankuba Minteh (£30m from Newcastle United) has been richly promising in patches on the wings, Kadioglu stands out in enhancing Brighton’s reputation as shrewd operators in the marketplace.
The £25million fee paid to Fenerbahce looks increasingly like money well spent for a player Jose Mourinho — who was one of his 10 managers in six seasons at the Istanbul club — praised emphatically when he left for England’s south coast.
Kadioglu impressed immediately, settling straight into Hurzeler’s side and scoring twice in his first eight games. The second of those, a sweetly-struck finish when playing as a right-winger in a 2-1 defeat at title-bound Liverpool in November 2024, camouflaged a toe injury he’d sustained three days earlier in a 3-2 home loss to the same opponents in the Carabao Cup.
A ligament rupture in the big toe on his left foot was diagnosed. Kadioglu needed surgery and missed the remainder of a campaign where Brighton finished eighth, missing European qualification by four points. The way he has bounced back makes his player of the season award — the headline prize of 13 across the men’s and women’s teams presented on a stage built in front of the main stand at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday — all the sweeter.
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“It means a lot to me,” said Kadioglu during an exclusive interview with The Athletic. “You are working really hard for the season, especially in my situation. I had a difficult last year with a stupid toe injury. So, I am really happy with my comeback and that fans appreciate what I am doing on the pitch. That makes it even nicer. That is why this award really does mean a lot to me.”
Kadioglu, 26, has matured into a typical example of the modern-day full-back, a role that is crucial to Hurzeler’s system. Sound in defence and in his distribution, he also has the energy to contribute effectively to the attack with chance-creating crosses and occasional goals — he opened the scoring in Brighton’s 3-0 home win against Chelsea last month.
In his second year at the club, Kadioglu has become fundamental to Hurzeler’s plans. He shares the highest number of outfield appearances in the league with players’ player of the season Danny Welbeck, featuring in 36 of the 37 matches so far, with 33 starts. The most recent of those, Sunday’s 1-0 defeat away to Leeds, still niggles.
An opportunity to seal a place in Europe with a game to spare vanished as Dominic Calvert-Lewin punished the profligacy of Hurzeler’s side in the sixth minute of added time, capitalising on an underhit back pass by Jan Paul van Hecke.
“Difficult,” said Kadioglu, reflecting on a performance and result which leaves qualification for the Champions League (alongside third-placed visitors United), Europa League or UEFA Conference League, and missing out on Europe altogether by falling from seventh in the table to ninth as the broad range of possibilities heading into Sunday’s season finale.
“The first half was not great from our side, but we still had the better chances. Also in the second half, (we had) loads of chances, but we couldn’t actually finish it. You know in the Premier League, they (opponents) will do everything to win the match and in the last minute, unfortunately, we made a mistake. But this can happen, this is football.
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“We lost the game, but we all believe we can get a very good result on Sunday, and all of the players, with the fans, can, I think, make it a really nice end to the season.”
Kadioglu started that match at Elland Road on the right wing, the fourth time he has played there this season, the consequence of a reshuffle caused by a season-ending hamstring injury for Kaoru Mitoma. He has also started twice on the left wing and at right-back on three occasions, but he is in no doubt that his main role of left-back is his best position. That is where he played for Fenerbahce, and where he lines up for his country.
“I prefer it,” he said. “The left-back position is where I feel the most comfortable, but sometimes, with injuries, maybe the coach needs me in another position. I tried my best in that position, but I think I show my best performances at left-back.
“In the last few years, I have played the most games in that position and if you change to the right side, then you have to change all of your body position. Also, in defending and attacking, it’s a different dynamic. I got really used to playing at left-back. I have managed also to play some good games in other positions. I always try to do as well as possible, but in the end it’s the head coach who decides.”
Kadioglu has prior experience of all three European club competitions from his time at Fenerbahce, reaching the last 16 of the Europa League and quarter-finals of the Conference League, and scoring in the Champions League’s second qualifying round against Lugano in July 2024, a month before joining Brighton (they beat the Swiss side 6-4 on aggregate before losing 3-2 to Lille of France over two legs in the next round).
“As a player, you want to reach as high as possible, and to play in Europe is a really big thing,” Kadioglu said. “You play against all the good teams in Europe, and you have another chance to win a trophy. If we play in the Europa League or the Conference League — even the Champions League is still possible, although we need a bit of luck — I think we can do really well in those competitions. It’s a really big thing for the club, for the fans to travel, to see other stadiums.”
Regardless of where Brighton end up, Kaidoglu has a big summer ahead at the World Cup, with Turkey in a group containing co-hosts the United States, Australia and Paraguay; the latter fixture potentially pitting him against Brighton team-mate and the club’s young player of the season Diego Gomez.
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First things first, though. He appreciates what is at stake and the permutations of the result against United as Brighton try to add to reaching the last 16 of the 2023-24 Europa League under Roberto De Zerbi.
“I am aware of everything, but we just want to win the game, ” he said. “The last home game of the season, with all the fans together, we want to make it an unforgettable season, and for the second time ever to bring Brighton back to Europe…that will be a really nice thing for this club.
“This club is doing amazing: the under-21s just won the league (Premier League 2, beating their Manchester United counterparts 2-1 at the Amex in last Saturday’s final), the women are going to the final (in the FA Cup, against new league champions Manchester City at Wembley on May 31). It can be a really nice year for Brighton.”
