Brighton winger Julio Enciso has picked up a knee injury which could see him out on the sidelines for an extended period of time.
Paraguay’s national team put out a statement, relayed by Roberto Rojas, saying: “The player Julio Enciso has suffered trauma to his left knee, in one of his club’s training sessions. He is being assisted and evaluated by the Brighton medical team and studies will be carried out in the next days.
We are still waiting to know these results together with the official report of the injury, the treatment and the probable rehabilitation time.”
Both club and national team will be hoping the injury is not as serious as knee injuries tend to be, with a possible meniscus tear being reported.
How big a blow is this Julio Enciso injury for Brighton?
The 19-year-old had started the season in brilliant form, picking up two assists in his first two Premier League games of the season, with both in the 1-4 win against Wolves on Saturday.
He put in a performance worthy of man of the match, whilst only playing 61 minutes. He made 23 passes with a 74% pass accuracy, had four shots, made two key passes, created two big chances, had six out of seven successful dribbles and won eight out of ten duels.
The Paraguayan international joined Brighton from Libertad in his home nation last summer for a fee believed to be around €11.6 million.
This would be the first injury Enciso has had to his knee, with only facial injuries being the ones he had to date.
This will be a blow for the Seagulls as he looks to be missing out on their upcoming games against West Ham United and Newcastle United before the international break.
This could force Brighton’s hand in the transfer market, but with other options like Simon Adingra and Kaoru Mitoma.
However this could mean the chances of Facundo Buonanotte leaving on loan this window could now be slim, with the Argentinian reportedly close to a loan move to Leeds United.