Valentin Barco was supposed to join Sevilla on loan from Brighton for the 2024-25 season and set La Liga alight. Yet at the halfway point of the campaign, reports from Seville suggest he is stuck in limbo and currently unwanted by either club.
Barco has made just seven league matches totalling 286 minutes for a struggling Sevilla side currently sitting 14th in the table.
He has not impressed as either a left back, left winger or central midfielder with manager García Pimienta handing Barco opportunities in all three positions in an attempt to find his best role.
A lack of action meant Valentin Barco was expected to see his time with Sevilla cut short six months early with Brighton sending him straight to Porto.
There were even rumours that a loan to Estadio do Dragao would include an option for Porto to buy Barco permanently. This came as a major surprise to a lot of Albion fans, who remember Barco as one of the few bright spots from the final weeks of last season.
Barco shone in defeats against Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United. He was voted WAB May 2024 Brighton Player of the Month.
It was not hard to see why he was considered a player with word class potential, one of the best of his generation in South America and the long-term answer to the Argentina’s left back problem. The £7.8 million paid to Boca Juniors for Barco looked a bargain.
Brighton though seemingly took a dim view of Valentin Barco agitating for a loan to Sevilla in the summer. He wanted to play every minute of every game; something he may not have received being behind Pervis Estupinan in the pecking order. The £25 million signing of Ferdi Kadioglu then muddied the left back waters further.
And so rather than patiently remain in England and develop at the Amex, Barco headed to Spain believing himself to be the finished article.
It has subsequently been suggested that Barco’s attitude was one of the reasons Manchester City pulled out of a deal to sign from Boca. If true, Brighton got their first glimpse of that in the summer.
The irony of all this of course is that had Barco remained with the Seagulls, he would probably have played far more than he has for Sevilla. Brighton have suffered an insane number of injuries (again) in the current campaign so far.
Five players all of whom can cover left back have been impacted. Estupinan started the campaign injured. Kaidoglu has undergone surgery on a ligament capsule tear in his big toe. By the time the season finishes, he is likely to have missed at least six months of it.
James Milner managed three matches before breaking down and has not been seen since. Jack Hinshelwood has spent his fair share of time in the treatment room. And now Igor Julio has torn a thigh and is doubtful to play again in 2024-25.
You might think all of that would be enough to convince Brighton to take Barco back from Sevilla as part of Fabian Hurzeler’s first team squad.
But an article on the Vamos Sevilla website suggests the depths to which Barco’s reputation has tanked at the Albion.
Vamos Sevilla report that Barco’s new loan arrangement with Porto has fallen through. Sevilla meanwhile are now desperate to get rid of Barco. This is no longer down to his lack of game time, but because he takes up a non-EU registration.
La Liga clubs are permitted to register five players with passports from outside the European Union. Sevilla currently have five including Barco.
Brazilian defender Marcao. Argentine right back Gonzalo Montiel. Nigerian winger Chidera Ejuke. His compatriot and former Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
Sevilla want to sign Brazilian forward Juninho from Qarabag but will be unable to register him until they move on a non-EU player. Hence why they want Barco to return to Brighton.
The Vamos Sevilla article suggests the Albion are not willing to accept an early termination of the loan agreement until they have found another club for Barco to move to following the collapse of the Porto deal.
Sevilla meanwhile have no intention of playing Barco again, although he will continue to train with them until a solution can be found.
If it all sounds a bit of a mess, that is because it is a bit of a mess. Caught in middle of it is a 20-year-old who only left Argentina 12 months ago, his career currently in limbo and his undoubted talent going to waste.
Hopefully, Barco will have learnt an important lesson from it all about doing what is best for his long-term career rather than trying to cut corners.
Had he been willing to stay with Brighton and accept a potential bit-part role this season, his future prospects would be much brighter than they currently look.
Whether that long-term career is played out with the Albion remains to be seen. But the fact that Brighton are currently not entertaining the idea of bringing Barco back into the fold despite Estupinan being the only fit and available left back is quite damning.
