It’s been a whirlwind two years for Brighton & Hove Albion attacker Julio Enciso.
After showing glimpses of being one of the most promising young talents in the Premier League upon his arrival in the summer of 2022, the 20-year-old missed the majority of the 2023-24 campaign with a torn meniscus, derailing his chances of being able to continue on that trajectory in his second full season at the club. He now comes off a Copa América this summer, in which he scored his first international goal for Paraguay, and an Olympic Games in France before he returns to England’s South Coast to play under his third manager in two years.
If he is to feature prominently in the plans of new boss Fabian Hürzeler, he’ll need to rediscover the form he showed when he helped Brighton qualify for European competition for the first time in their history. His performances in the Copa suggest he’s poised to make a good first impression.
Nicknamed “The Jewel” in his native Paraguay, Enciso first burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old leaving his rural Caaguazú to head west to the capital of Asuncion and play for Club Libertad, one of the strongest clubs in the country. From there, fans and coaches alike knew he was a special and different player after making an instant impact on the first team at such a young age.
“I think what made Julio special was just the way he blew away opposition teams at senior level pretty much from his debut,” said Ralph Hannah, a Paraguayan football expert based in Houston, Texas. “He began scoring regularly but then started scoring goals from outside the box or beating two or three players with ease. It was very clear that he was way too good for that level.”
His performances convinced Brighton to pay a £10 million transfer fee to sign the then-18-year-old.
It wasn’t an easy adaptation when Enciso first arrived on the south coast of England. Graham Potter — the manager he first worked with — departed for Chelsea two months after the Paraguayan signed at the Amex Stadium, and in came Roberto De Zerbi, who implemented a completely different style of play than Brighton had been accustomed to under Potter.
Enciso found comfort in the bond he forged with his fellow South Americans, though. Moisés Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Pervis Estupiñán, and Facundo Buonanotte helped him settle into the Premier League.
“It’s a big change for me because when I arrived here, I didn’t even speak a word of English, and now hear it every day from my manager and my teammates so I had to adapt to it,” Enciso said to ESPN. “When I got there, [Mac Alister] was there and a bunch of South Americans helped me a lot.”
That help paid off. As soon as De Zerbi gave the young Paraguayan his debut, against Chelsea in October 2022, he impressed. He played a key role in helping Brighton qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the first time, while also scoring some exquisite goals, including the Premier League Goal of the Season for 2022-23 and a FIFA Puskas Award nominee.
Enciso entered the 2023-24 season full of confidence. He was handed the No. 10 shirt vacated by Mac Allister after the Argentina international’s move to Liverpool, signifying the key role Enciso would play in De Zerbi’s system.
“[Wearing the No. 10 shirt] gives me a huge sense of pride and emotion because my dream was always to play with the No. 10 shirt at my club and national team … When I was a kid, I would always tell my grandpa that one day I would wear the No. 10 shirt,” Enciso said.
“Now that my coach and teammates [at Brighton] have given me confidence and so now, in every training session and match, I want to show that they didn’t make a mistake and I have a lot of desire to keep growing, to keep improving my level and, why not, try to be one of the top players in the world.”
His quest to prove deserving of that No. 10 shirt would have to wait, though. After suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee in training following the second match of the season, Enciso missed six months of action.
“It was a very difficult time for me and in my career because it’s not easy to have an injury and go through those kinds of things,” Enciso said. “My family and those who supported me during that journey knew how I felt. I suffered a lot, but I have to thank them for being there for me, my family obviously.”
.@JulioEnciso33‘s STUNNING strike against City! 🚀 @BrightonTools 📺 pic.twitter.com/qYpNvGfWYo
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 25, 2023
Enciso’s return was delayed by a second minor procedure in his recovery. He was restored to the first team in February, playing 590 minutes through the end of the campaign but was unable to complete an entire 90 minutes.
When the curtain eventually fell on the 2023-24 season, Brighton had finished 11th and De Zerbi had left for pastures new.
While Paraguay suffered a worse fate this summer, winning just once in six matches split between international friendlies and the Copa America and exiting that tournament at the group stage, Enciso saw an upturn in his fortunes. He featured in all six contests, going the full 90 three times, amassing 433 minutes of an available 540, and claiming one of the four goals La Albirroja scored all summer.
Being one of the only shining stars for his country, Enciso will now look to help them in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in South America. Paraguay sit in seventh place with 12 games left, occupying the inter-confederation playoff spot that would pit them against teams from Asia, Africa, Oceania and CONCACAF for the final places in the tournament hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2026.
Heading into the 2024-25 season, Enciso will look to finally become the player that promised so much when he joined Brighton two years ago. If the Seagulls are to continue their precedent set in recent seasons of punching above their weight against the elite of the Premier League, then expect Enciso to play a crucial part in their attack and how they move forward.
If the form shown this summer by the club’s “jewel” from Paraguay is anything to go by, Brighton may be well on their way to another upwardly mobile campaign.
