It is make or break time for Aaron Connolly at Venezia

Venice. The Floating City. City of Masks. City of Bridges. City of Canals. Queen of the Adriatic. And now home to Aaron Connolly for the next year after Brighton loaned their Irish forward to Serie B club Venezia.

Not many Brighton fans would have picked Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium as the place where Connolly would spend the 2022-23 season.

It all seems a little too cultured; gondolas, basilicas and prosecco rather than trying to fight whoever is hanging around with on-off partner Lucinda Strafford in Shooshh after one too many alcopops.

But maybe such a dramatic change of scenery is what Connolly needs? A new country, a new culture and a new language a long way from home could force him to grow up.

He might even start scoring again…. goals that is, rather than with women. Since bursting onto the scene with that brilliant brace against Spurs on his full Premier League debut almost three years ago, that department has rather dried up.

Over the past two seasons, Connolly has made more appearances in the celebrity sections of newspapers for his constant off-field dramas than he has managed Premier League goals. These stories include but are not restricted to:

• Breaking Covid regulations and risking carrying the virus into the Albion’s secure bubble by meeting up with a woman for a romp during lockdown
• Going mad with rage about Miss Strafford agreeing to go on Love Island
• Being filmed trying to start a fight in Shooshh
• Throwing his toys out of the pram when it was revealed he was not in the starting XI for the trip to Burnley last season, and subsequently being dropped from the squad as a result
• Missing the trip to Brentford through injury… which he decided to heal by going to a music festival
• Having the police called to his house after a bust-up with Miss Strafford

Brighton had hoped that six months in Middlesbrough might sort Connolly out. A no-nonsense manager like Chris Wilder would take no shit, whilst playing every week against Championship defences in a playoff chasing team provided the perfect opportunity for Connolly to rebuild his confidence.

The reality though was rather different. Connolly scored twice in 21 appearances. One was a heavy deflection and the other left even Boro fans baffled as to how it was awarded to him and not put down as an own goal.

Some Middlesbrough supporters even went so far as to describe Connolly as their worst ever loan signing. Some accolade that. And it explains why no Championship suitors have shown an interest in his services this summer.

Connolly’s loan spell at Middlesbrough was an opportunity to show he can perform at Championship level. He failed to take it. He will not get many more chances to prove himself, which gives the move to Venezia the feel of a pivotal moment.

It is a big opportunity too. Venezia have just been relegated from Serie A after a one-season stay in the top flight. They are seventh favourites in the betting market to win promotion at 9/2.

If Venezia are to make an immediate return to Serie A, then they need Aaron Connolly to score goals. He arrives as a replacement for Nigerian striker David Okereke, who has returned to Club Brugge after a year on loan in Venice.

Okereke hit seven last season. Venezia’s top scorer was nine-goal French forward Thomas Henry, ironically now linked with a move to Middlesbrough. Should Henry also depart, then the burden of responsibility will fall heavily on Connolly’s shoulders.

A successful season at Venezia can reignite his stalling career. Find the back of the net regularly and avoid the gossip pages of the Venetian equivalent of The Sun and Connolly might yet have a future with Brighton.

Even if a good year is not enough to convince Graham Potter to give him another chance, it might earn him a move elsewhere. That would be good news for Connolly’s career and good news for Brighton in terms of getting a fee for his services.

Leo Ostigard is a prime example of a successful loan spell in Italy opening new doors. Six months and a relegation with Genoa has led to the Norwegian defender being on the verge of a big money move to Napoli, where he will play Champions League football.

Having paid Connolly £1 million per season since sticking him on an ill-advised £20,000 per week contract in the summer of 2020 after he had scored just three Premier League goals, Lord knows the Albion could do with some sort of remittance.

In contrast, failure at Venezia would be a disaster for Brighton and Aaron Connolly. Serie B attracts next-to-no media coverage in the United Kingdom.

Unless he is a success there and makes headlines for the right reasons, he risks fading into obscurity – a man forgotten by British football amongst the 118 islands which make up Venice.

Not many clubs will be interested in a striker who fails to score in a division where the standard is more League One than Championship. Certainly no club who could come close to matching the wages he is on at the Albion.

Brighton would therefore find themselves with an unsaleable asset with a contract which runs through to 2024. Sink in Venice and Connolly will be back at the Amex for 2023-24, unwanted but picking up an astronomical amount of money.

He would then enter the dog-eat-dog world of the free agent come the summer of 2024 having not scored in the Premier League, Championship or Serie B, and with that list of off-the-field incidents like a millstone around his neck pointing to a questionable attitude.

There is no way of knowing how Aaron Connolly in Venezia will pan out. He clearly has ability – you do not humiliate Spurs in the manner he did with a performance reminiscent of a young Wayne Rooney without out.

But he would not be the first naturally gifted young player to waste their talent and throw away their football career.

Connolly is just as likely to score 25 goals and become a Serie B champion as he is to fall off a gondola in the Grand Canal following a 12 hour bender. Only he can decide where he goes from here. It is make or break time.