West Brom loan what Sarmiento needs to shine
Shortly after Jeremy Sarmiento signed his new five year contract with Brighton, Roberto De Zerbi said the prodigious Ecuadorian international forward needed to play 35 games in a season.
Want to take a guess at the most consecutive matches Sarmiento has managed in his senior career to date without getting injured? Seven. One start and six substitute appearances totalling 163 minutes. At the age of 21.
De Zerbi explained the situation when Sarmiento was a surprise omission from the Albion squad heading to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series.
“Jeremy Sarmiento will go on loan, it’s our current plan. We talked with him and we agreed that after his last injury he needs to have a minimum of 35 games before coming back with us.”
“He is a great guy and a very good player. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play in the last part of the season because of his injury, but we expect him to be a very important player for us in the coming years.”
When the idea of Sarmiento heading out on loan was first mooted, there was a fair bit of surprise. A big season for Brighton and greater opportunities to play seemed likely with the additional demands of European football.
It was then assumed that his destination would be Germany, France, Spain or somewhere on the continent. A top level European league befitting of his talents. Because make no mistake, he is talented. He is a good enough player to shine in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 or La Liga.
What nobody saw coming was a move to West Bromwich Albion and a season in the Championship. It is arguably though the perfect place for Sarmiento to toughen up and improve physically amidst the rough and tumble of a gruelling second tier season and show he can handle the demands of the top level.
Sarmiento’s inability to make it remotely near double figure consecutive matches without suffering a setback are why excitement over his potential should be tempered.
He could be the best player in the world, but if he is ruled out for six weeks every time he plays for more than 160 minutes, that is not really much help.
Any West Brom fans reading Twitter to gather an insight into their new loan capture could be forgiven for thinking they have in fact signed the best player in the world.
Sarmiento has been lauded from pillar to post, predicted to be the best player in the Championship by a country mile.
West Brom are all but guaranteed promotion with Sarmiento in their side. He could even become the first man to win the Ballon d’Or playing in the second tier of English football.
That might sound like we are taking the piss out of those lofty expectations. We are not. Sarmiento could well end up being the 2023-24 Championship season’s version of Anthony Knockaert in 2016-17.
The mind wanders back to Goodison Park, Wednesday 3rd January 2023. Sarmiento was a surprise inclusion at number 10 away at Everton in place of the rested Adam Lallana.
It was Sarmiento’s first start under De Zerbi and only his second in the Premier League for Brighton, coming 13 months after his full debut was ended by a hamstring injury with just 13 minutes played away at West Ham United in December 2021.
De Zerbi starting Sarmiento against the Toffees was unexpected because Lallana’s form had been a major factor in the Albion transitioning from the way Graham Potter played to DeZerbiBall and 4-2-3-1 so seamlessly.
Yet Brighton did not miss Lallana as they beat Everton 4-1 with Sarmiento at the heart of everything. He did not waste a pass, struck visible fear into the Everton defence whenever he was on the ball and teed up Evan Ferguson’s goal with a perfect pull back following a jinking run to the by-line.
One month later and Sarmiento was a 57th minute introduction from the bench at home against Plucky Little Bournemouth.
His entry into proceedings injected excitement into what had been a laboured display by the Albion’s standards up to that point.
It culminated in Sarmiento delivering the delicious flighted cross which Kaoru Mitoma headed home for the only goal of the game in the 87th minute.
That remains his one and only Premier League assist to go with the goal he set up away at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, also scored by Mitoma.
Sarmiento’s display at Everton and his cameo against Bournemouth were impressive enough that they stick in the memory six months later.
But there is another reason why Brighton fans still hark back to them – because Sarmiento’s fitness and injury problems mean they are two of the only pieces of hard evidence that this is another young player ready to take English football by storm.
He has made just 14 Premier League appearances in two seasons. 12 of those have been from the bench and eight for less than 10 minutes.
Sarmiento suffered two separate hamstring injuries in 2021-22. A knee problem was followed by a broken metatarsal picked up on international duty in 2022-23.
The last of those injuries denied Sarmiento the chance to showcase his ability through a frantic final two months of the season which featured 14 games in eight weeks.
Squad rotation and injuries would have seen Sarmiento given frequent opportunities to play. Whilst Sarmiento watched on from the stands, he saw Julio Enciso leapfrog him in the pecking order at Brighton.
Enciso has subsequently gone from unproven with raw potential to the Albion’s Starboy, scoring wondergoals against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.
Sarmiento will remain in the raw potential category until he proves himself capable of stringing a significant run of matches together beyond 160 minutes.
Which is why De Zerbi wants to see him complete 35 matches in a single season. It is why West Brom is the perfect place for Sarmiento to shine, live up to the hype and realise his potential.
Sarmiento is going to the Championship because Brighton need to him become stronger and more robust. And if he can get through a season in the second tier unscathed, expect him to make waves in the Premier League in 2023-24.
