Five of Brighton’s Under 23s head out on loan
The exit door has been earning its keep for Brighton Under 23s over the past 48 hours. Five of the development squad’s young players have headed out on loan, all of them to clubs playing at League One level or above.
That says much about the talent that the Albion possess below first team level. It also shows just how difficult it is for players to make the breakthrough in the Premier League, even with a new manager in Graham Potter who has a reputation for giving youth a chance.
In case you can’t keep up with the rate of departures, here are the Seagulls who have flown the nest for the 2019-20 campaign.
Christian Walton – Blackburn Rovers
Former England Under 21 goalkeeper Christian Walton will join his sixth loan club as he moves to Blackburn Rovers for the season.
The move will give Walton further exposure to Championship football. He spent last year on loan with Wigan Athletic in the second tier, having helped the Latics to the League One title in 2017-18.
They also famously knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup with Walton claiming a clean sheet against Pep Guardiola’s superstars at the DW Stadium.
At 23 years of age, Walton is still some way from his peak and he has been long tipped to be Brighton’s number one at some point in the future.
With five senior goalkeepers on the books, that doesn’t look like being for this season at least which means another spell picking up experience in the Championship is a good move for all parties.
Walton has said he is looking forward to moving to Blackburn, but he might well change his mind if he visits the same pub that we did before the Albion’s fixture at Ewood Park in the 2014-15 season.
At lest three people were wearing dress gowns, drinking £2 pints of Fosters and watching Jeremy Kyle on the big screen rather than the live lunchtime football.
Jayson Molumby – Milllllllllllllllll
Jayson Molumby is one of the most highly rated players in the development squad set up and that has helped him secure his first loan from the Amex. He will link up with Neil Harris and Milllllllllllllllllll in the Championship.
Molumby had a hugely impressive time at the Toulon Tournament this summer. He captained Republic of Ireland Under 21s to an impressive fourth placed finish in the competition and was then voted the fourth best player at the tournament out of over 200 from the 12 competing nations.
Only three players were considered better than Molumby – Brazil’s Douglas Luiz, a midfielder who Manchester City forked out £10m for last summer; Luiz’s Seleção teammate Lyanco, a defender who Torino paid £6m for and who has attracted the interest of Manchester United, Juventus and Atletico Madrid among others and Japan’s Ao Tanaka.
What made the feat more impressive was that before February, Molumby hadn’t kicked a ball for 15 months after having to effectively have a new knee built.
That doesn’t seem to have slowed his development though and a season playing regular football for the Lions will help him continue on the rapid rise he has been on since his comeback.
Jan Mlakar – Queens Park Rangers
At £2.7m, Jan Mlakar is Brighton’s 19th most expensive signing of all time – yet it will be at least another year until we see him in the stripes.
The striker was signed from Maribor in January but loaned instantly back for the remainder of the season, helping to fire them to the Slovenian title.
His first season in English football will take place at Loftus Road rather than the Amex after the Albion agreed to lend him to Queens Park Rangers for 2019-20.
Mlakar follows in the footsteps of Tomer Hemed, who scored seven times in 29 appearances on loan for the super hoops last season.
Dan Ashworth described the move as an “excellent next step in his (Mlakar) development, allowing him to gain a first taste of English football, in what is a very competitive Championship division.”
Even more excited than Ashworth will be The Argus headline writers, who can continue to use the “Loan Ranger” headline they trotted out whenever there was an update on Hemed’s time in West London.
Billy Arce – Barcelona Sporting Club
Billy Arce is the less famous member of the players bought who can’t get work permits club alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Percy Tau.
The winger cost £1m when signing from Ecuadorian club Independiente DV in August 2018. Since then, he’s been farmed out to Extremadura UD in Spain’s second division and Emelec in the Ecuadorian top flight.
Neither of these moves have proven to be particularly successful. Arce played just four times in the first half of last season with Extremadura and had only made 10 appearance with Emelec since joining them in January, scoring twice.
As a result, that loan deal has been terminated and he is now on the move to Barcelona Sporting Club, also of Ecuador. Barcelona were founded by a Spanish immigrant from – you’ve guessed it, Barcelona – and have the exact same badge as the more famous version.
They’re nearly as successful too, having won a record 15 titles as well as being the first Ecuadorian club to reach the Copa Libertadores final.
This looks like a good move for Arce on paper, although there still appears to be more chance of intelligent life being found on Venus than there does of him ever playing for the Albion.
Robert Sanchez – Rochdale
Walton isn’t the only goalkeeper on the move as Robert Sanchez is also off to Lancashire, where he will spend the season on loan with League One side Rochdale.
Sanchez was at Forest Green Rovers for a spell last year, playing 17 times in League Two. This move to the Crown Oil Stadium (what was wrong with good old Spotland?) is a step up in class for him and it will be interesting to see how he gets on.
Right now, we’re planning on bringing you regular updates on the Albion’s “LOAN RANGERS” (copyright The Argus) over the course of the 2019-20 season, so keep your eyes peeled for them. The likelihood however is that after a month or two, we will lose all interest in sifting through Rochdale match reports and give up. Apologies in advance if that ends up being the case.
