Tin hat on… Brighton should consider sending Julio Enciso out on loan to prevent his career dangerously stalling at a crucial stage in his development.
12 months ago and this would have seemed like an insane statement. Albion supporters were all eagerly awaiting the return of a player who appeared to have come of age in the final two months of the 2022-23 season.
Enciso racked up four goals and two assists from April onwards. Included in that number were spectacular distance efforts against Chelsea and then Manchester City. His strike against Pep Guardiola’s champions being good enough to win BBC Match of the Day Goal of the Season.
Into the 2023-24 campaign and Enciso marked his first start with two assists and a man-of-the-match display as the Albion won 4-1 away at Wolves. Many were predicting him to be the breakout star of the season.
But then Enciso suffered a serious setback. A meniscus tear ruled him out from August 2023 until February 2024. Six months of his career gone at the time when he was just starting to show his talent.
Since his return from injury, Julio Enciso has zero goals and just one assist in Brighton colours. That came against the might of League One Crawley Rugby Club in the Carabao Cup at the Amex.
He made four starts and five substitute appearances in the second half of 2023-24 under Roberto De Zerbi. Contributing so little did not stop Enciso or his agent talking about the player leaving Brighton for bigger and better things in the summer.
“It’s more than clear that other clubs will follow Enciso and if there is an opportunity, there will be more than one team that wants to sign him,” said Enciso’a agent Pedro Aldave to South American news outlet Versus.
Having spent so long out with an injury well-known for shortening or even ending careers – ask Jose Izquierdo about his meniscus – Enciso should have been concentrating on getting fit and delivering for Brighton before thinking about where his next pay cheque is coming from.
Getting a full pre-season under his belt with Brighton could have helped Enciso. Instead, he begged to be allowed to play for Paraguay Under 23s at the Olympics.
Enciso said when joining up with the squad: “Tony Bloom told me that I had to be with Brighton in Japan (preseason), I told him ‘No please, I want to be with my national team and represent my country,’ I didn’t lose faith & thank God it happened.”
So, whilst his Albion teammates were doing their best to impress new head coach Fabian Hurzeler, Enciso was in France. To make matters worse, he injured a knee in Paraguay’s quarter final elimination on penalties to Egypt.
A combination of his lack of pre-season and a £193 million spending spree means Enciso has played only 84 minutes of Premier League football this season.
He finds himself third choice in the number 10 pecking order behind Joao Pedro and Georginio Rutter. De Zerbi was not averse to using Enciso as a winger, but he appears even further down the list out wide.
Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra and Yankubu Minteh are all ahead of Enciso in terms of out-and-out wingers. Rutter, Yasin Ayari and Ferdi Kadigolu have also been selected out wide by Hurzeler over Enciso this season.
Enciso may even find himself further away from selection when his compatriot Diego Gomez arrives from Inter Miami in January.
His lack of game time is further compounded by what he does when he makes it onto the pitch. Some Brighton fans think he tries too hard to impress. Others have concluded he is not a good team player.
This manifests itself in him always seeming to want to shoot from 35 yards when better passing options exist. Enciso needs greater game time to improve his decision making, get match fit and show that two-month run of good form in April and May 2023 was not a mere purple patch.
And however much Enciso’s agent wants to talk about numerous teams wanting to sign him, not many will be willing to do so without him playing regular football and delivering consistent performances.
Which is where the problem lies. Because unless Brighton are hit by an injury crisis, Julio Enciso seems unlikely to be getting much game time at the Amex.
Compare that to Facundo Buonanotte, thriving on loan at Leicester City. Buonanotte has been so good for the Foxes as to receive a Premier League Player of the Month nomination for October and be interesting the likes of Spurs and Borussia Dortmund.
With his performances so far at the King Power Stadium, there is an argument to be made that Buonanotte will be ahead of Enciso when he returns to the Amex for next season.
Enciso has shown he has the potential to be a phenomenal footballer. A spell out on loan would undoubtedly help his development and improve his chances of getting there.
Regular football, a chance to mature, pick up experience and build confidence have done Buonanotte a world of good.
It could do the same for Enciso at a time when his Brighton future is starting to look unclear.
