Paraguay expert Ralph Hannah talks Julio Enciso

The Albion are getting rather adept at signing these wonderkids from South America. The latest to join Brighton following Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and, er, Billy Arce is 18-year-old Paraguay forward Julio Enciso from Club Libertad.

Brighton have paid £10 million for the teenager, making him the most expensive arrival of that impressive little lot.

Enciso made his senior debut for Libertad at 15, earned his first international cap at 17 and has been watched by some of the biggest clubs in Europe prior to the Albion making their move.

Seagulls fans who have watched Enciso’s highlight reel on YouTube are getting very excited. YouTube though only ever tells half the story; for every Caicedo or Mac Allister who look unreal on the internet and live up to the hype, you get a Cristian Baz or an Augustin Batipiedi.

To get a better idea of what Brighton can expect from Enciso, we spoke to Ralph Hannah from The Paraguay Football Blog and the Guarani Vision podcast for the inside track on the Albion’s latest acquisition.

What sort of player is Enciso? He seems to have been used in a number of different attacking positions during his time at Libertad, so which is best?

When he debuted around 15 he seemed to be this tricky winger that would play on the left and cut inside. But as his confidence grew and his coaches’ believed in him more he adopted more of a central role, often alongside a traditional number nine like Oscar Cardozo or Roque Santa Cruz.

By playing more down the middle he started to add more goals to his game. So to me his preferred position is second striker.

How has Enciso performed in Paraguay? To have so many appearances and goals at a young age is pretty much unheard of in England. The last player to do so was probably Wayne Rooney nearly 20 years ago.

He just went from strength to strength and by 2022 he had outgrown the league in terms of his quality. He was scoring for fun, from all angles and off both feet.

It meant he started taking a lot of hits too as defenders had no way of stopping him other than fouling, so it was no surprise when he missed the end of the season with injury.

In Paraguay you do have a lot of “wonderkids” but I can’t remember any that managed 10 goals in a short season at 18. You probably have to go back to Roque in 1999 for a similar strike rate at that age.

If you had to compare him to another Premier League player, who would it be?

Enciso says his idol growing up was Cristiano Ronaldo, but at 5’6 in he certainly isn’t that type of player. In terms of style he reminds me a bit of Sergio Agüero, who also debuted at 15 in South America before getting a big move to Europe as a teenager.

In terms of a current PL player, I think there is a similarity to Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal because he can play on the left and cut inside, or through the middle, and he just loves running at defenders.

£10 million makes Enciso the most expensive ever outgoing transfer from the Paraguayan Primera División. Do you think he is worth the fee?

I think the £10 million fee makes sense given the output and his age. Whether he can live up to it is a big question because we’ve seen so many times that it doesn’t just depend on talent alone, but also the mental toughness to be away from family and adapt to a new culture and country.

Enciso has always seemed to have a good attitude, he is close to his family, goes to church, never seen at nightclubs. He has studied English for a while so you feel he has been preparing himself for a move away.

Would you expect him to come straight into Brighton’s first team, or do you think he will need a year and possibly a loan spell elsewhere to adapt to English football, as the Albion gave Caicedo?

He has played and scored at senior international level and Copa Libertadores so there are indications he could be ready. But I suppose a lot will depend on pre-season and whether Graham Potter thinks he is physically up to it.

My theory is that Brighton will want to hold onto him and have a deep squad because the November World Cup break will in effect give Enciso a chance to have a second pre-season whilst the Premier League is out of action.

That can help him get more up to speed to make a real impression before the end of the season.

What has the reaction been in Paraguay to Enciso moving to Brighton and the Premier League?

Generally people are very excited about Enciso making the jump straight to the Premier League. The only other player who went straight to England from Paraguay was Diego Gavilan to Bobby Robson’s Newcastle over 20 years ago.

Paraguay is a small country, seven million population, and so to see one of their own in the most watched league in the world is something to be proud of.

I would bet Brighton will start to get a lot more interest from the heart of South America now that Enciso is a Seagull!

Thanks to Ralph for answering our questions. You can follow him on Twitter here. For further reading on Julio Enciso, check out Ralph’s detailed analysis from 2021 on the Paraguay Football Blog.