Albion hearts will have dropped at photos of Julio Enciso in tears in the Paraguay dugout at the Paris Olympics after leaving the pitch with an injury last week. Although seen walking on the touchline as they went out on penalties, it prompted widespread concern amongst fans and presumably, the new-look Brighton medical team.
It is a well worn fact that the 2023-24 season was one blighted by injury. Few players in the squad escaped to play a full slate of Premier League games, with some serious knee injuries taking out Solly March and Julio Enciso for long stretches of the campaign.
Whilst not alone in having a long injury list, the Albion were never out of the top three of clubs in terms of players unavailable.
Whether it was the intensity of Roberto De Zerbi’s training, the added pressure of more stoppage time at the end of each game, the additional games that came with playing in Europe, or the medical team not being up to scratch – or indeed a combination of all those factors – it probably cost Brighton a top 10 place.
Brighton wasted no time in addressing concerns in a very public way with the appointment of two new senior medical staff as the 2023-24 season ended to lead an overhauled team in 2024-25.
Professor Doctor Florian Phab, the new head of medicine and injury prevention joined from Eintracht Frankfurt after spells at Bayern Munich and Ingolstadt. He will hopefully link well with his compatriot Fabian Hurzeler.
Gary Walker joined from FC Cincinnati as head of performance, presumably with a focus on fitness and injury prevention.
So let us peer into the treatment room and see if we can get an idea of who is still injured, who is on the verge of returning, and what fresh injuries there are to contend with as the season gets underway in two weeks.
The website PremierInjuries.com does exactly what it says on the tin – tracks all injuries in the Premier League. They currently state Brighton have eight players out injured.
We know the number was reduced to six at the weekend as both Mats Wieffer and Jack Hinshelwood were fit enough to return in the 1-0 friendly win at QPR.
Hinshelwood was ruled out from February onwards with a stress fracture to his foot, just as he was finding his form and scoring goals having made the step up from the Under 23s. He looked assured on his first appearance under Hurzeler when coming on as a second half substitute at Loftus Road.
It was hard to judge Wieffer on his Albion debut. At times he did not look fully fit or up to speed. With Pascal Gross gone and Billy Gilmour likely to be going, Brighton will need Wieffer to start contributing sooner rather than later.
There have been mixed messages about Bart Verbruggen. Some commentators have said he is just taking a break having played in every game for the Netherlands at the Euros until their semi final exit.
The official line remains Verbruggen has an unspecified injury which will rule him out of the Albion’s two opening games of the season against Everton and Manchester United.
It is far from clear at this point what the true position is. Brighton have form for shrouding injury concerns in mystery.
Kaoru Mitoma went from a minor problem and missing one game last season to De Zerbi revealing a season ending back injury one week later.
Mitoma proved a big miss in the three months he was absent. It has been good to see him back and looking fully fit during the tour of Japan and at QPR.
Around the same time, Joao Pedro’s undiagnosed problem ended up with an eight-week injury layoff. With neither Mitoma or Pedro available, the free scoring form Brighton had been in during the first half of 2023-24 understandably deserted them.
Pedro missed the trip to Japan to recover from what Brian Owen of The Argus described as an unspecified but “not serious” injury.
He will surely not be match fit for the opening game of the season at Everton if he does not get a run out in the final friendly against Villarreal.
That is a huge concern, but at the same time it is clear that Danny Welbeck, Yankubu Minteh and others are ready to lead the attack and provide a goal threat in Pedro’s absence.
Verbruggen is not the only goalkeeper to feature on PremierInjuries.com‘s Albion list. Highly rated youngster Carl Rushworth is also there. Rushworth is yet to go back out on loan yet as he provides cover for Jason Steele in pre-season.
We will have to wait longer for the return of Solly March, arguably having his best season until it was cut short by an ACL tear at the Etihad Stadium in October.
March has been pictured back in training but seems some distance yet from playing competitve football. He will possibly need several games with the Under 23s to get him back to match fitness; the same as Jakub Moder last season when he returned from a similar injury.
2023-24 was a less happy season for Evan Ferguson, who went on a long goal drought before a recurring ankle issue ended his involvement in March.
Ferguson is back in training but it is unclear how long it will be before he is fit enough to compete with the other strikers Hurzeler has at his disposal.
For me, the biggest ongoing injury absence is Pervis Estupinan. Arguably one of the best left backs in the Premier League, Estupinan had an operation on his ankle in April. At the time, De Zerbi said it would rule Estupinan out until October.
Brighton have plenty of good options at the back, including Valentin Barco. But Estupinan has been badly missed for the balance he brings to the side as a brilliant defender and equally good going forward.
The good news is that most of those injuries are a hangover from last season, other than Pedro. Verbruggen and Enciso meanwhile suffered their problems away from the care of the Albion.
Every other Seagulls player seems to have come through pre-season so far unscathed. Hopefully a sign the new medical team are already having an impact, or that whatever caused so many injuries at Brighton in 2023-24 has been fixed.
There is always a risk when training intensifies as the Premier League kick off approaches. And friendly games against La Liga opposition have proven high tempered affairs in the past.
But so far, so good. Let us hope that continues into 2024-25. A squad with all of the above fit and ready to play alongside our excellent new signings will be a force to be reckoned with.
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
