Julio Enciso, I want you to stay

For a brief but beautiful moment in time Julio Enciso was the future. An elite nextgen ‘jewel’ - to use the sobriquet lovingly bestowed upon him by his nation - a poster boy for the genius of our recruitment and development model. ‘Tony does not miss’.

But now, with the lustre long since diminished (and his contract ticking down to zero) his departure looks inevitable. A victim of injury, but also the very same model that helped make the man.

‘The model’ seeks financial value and Julio’s is plummeting; we simply cannot afford not to sell him. New investments have already been paid for: Stefanos Tzimas, Tommy Watson, Charalampos Kostoulas, Yoon Do-young. Polishable upgradable gems - brand-new commodities for future trades - and space must now be made for these players to grow, with peak value sought for the players they will replace. Adios my sweet little jewel the spreadsheet has spoken.

But really, as a football club (and not a financial institution), when it comes to Julio Enciso and his place in the squad next season, the question the club should be asking themselves is… not how much can we get for him, but can we really afford to let him go?

Artwork by Noah Lennon

Back in mid-April my fellow Dogmatist James William wrote an article following a disappointing home draw against Leicester entitled ‘We’re going to finish 10th forever’ which judging by some of the comments on our socials, some people thought was highly insightful but others considered to be wide of the mark. But hey if you wanted vanilla, you probably wouldn’t be reading Dogma.

One of the frustrations shared in this piece was how the relentless churn of departures and incomings can impact the match-to-match competitiveness of the team, and that at some point to properly succeed we might need to embrace a little short-termism. Or at least, not relentlessly pursue long-term developmental success (with the balance sheet wins that come with that) over the sometimes short-term needs of the first team. You can (and should) read this article right here.

That not everything needs to be governed by a spreadsheet and, god forbid, we might want to override the requirements of ‘the model’ and the CEO’s KPIs. “There’s a general trend of shedding those good enough, and replacing them with a TBC. The club’s clamour for profit and maximising value means that the playing squad suffers” said James.

Would the current playing squad suffer from the departure of Julio Enciso this summer? To try and answer this question we should firstly look back at his time with us, so far.

He arrived as a full international and first-team regular (for Club Libertad the largest and most successful club in Paraguay) anointed as the savour of Paraguayan football and the heir to Roque Sante Cruz’s throne. A superstar of not just Paraguay but all of South America, at the age of just 18.

Despite the young age he wasn’t sent to USG or another development destination, instead he was given a faster inhouse pathway and his minutes started to increase as season 22/23 progressed, before the big breakthrough arrived; Dean Court, April 4th 2023, and a goal of deceptive quality. Calmly and confidently putting the keeper on his derriere before rolling the ball into an empty net.

Eleven days later his status was elevated from exciting young talent to starboy thanks to a superb performance at Stamford Bridge. Superb not just because of his long-range goal, but because of his all-round attacking work, his movement and the aggression and intelligence of his play.

Julio’s short period of time as a regular first team starter coincided with a run of games that helped secure European football. From the win at Chelsea through to the end of the season Julio started seven out of ten league fixtures. It was glorious.

A group stage place in the Europa League was secured on the final midweek game of the season with a draw against Manchester City. The evening of Enciso’s almost-Puskas-winning thunderbastard. A hit as brutal as it was precise. One of the greatest goals ever scored at Falmer, possibly the greatest.

Artwork by Noah Lennon

“England’s best run club have found another superstar for the future. This time, it is Paraguayan Julio Enciso, who has lit up the Premier League recently with amazing performances and stunning goals” wrote Spanish media giants AS at the time.

This is the iteration of Julio who played himself onto the 2024 edition of the CIES ‘most valuable U21 players in world football’ rankings. A list topped by Lamine Yamal, and featuring João Neves, Endrick, Désiré Doué, Sávio and Arda Güler, amongst others.

Anybody questioning the prophesying of Julio, or wondering what height his ceiling could be, were given one final piece of compelling evidence. His performance and impact on a hot summer’s day at Molineux at the start of the following season (23/24), where he was awarded the official man-of-the-match award despite Mitoma scoring a goal-of-the-season contender. It was the complete performance; threat, aggression, beautiful technique, positional smarts, and a pair of meticulous high-quality assists.

What followed was heart breaking. For us and for him. A meniscus tear in his left knee and a season on the treatment table for the player, a season of watching Ansu Fati for us. The player signed (at great expense) in Julio’s absence to try and replace his potency.

And here we are 24 months later, wondering what comes next.

In recent days Julio Enciso has been linked with Inter Milan. Italy’s most successful club of the 2020s and recent Champions League finalists. Why would a club of that stature - two Scudettos and two Coppa Italias in the last five years - be interested in a player that we seem happy to get rid of? A player who since the injury has featured as a regular first-team player for just one half-season in a very poor Ipswich Town team.

The ‘model’ Inter have followed throughout their current period of success is one that prioritises the immediate needs of the first team. “We’ve placed important pieces down over the last few years” said Inter President Beppe Marotta in February of this year when discussing Inter’s transfer strategy “the first thing was to create a solid core of Italians and we have succeeded. Then, go in search of those ‘professionals’, or ‘experts’ who were able to contribute with quality and experience”.

Porto - the OGs of player development and transfer models - are another club linked with an interest in Julio. “We have to be permanently studying the youth market. This is what allows us to keep fighting, despite having a budget 20 times less in respect to income [than other leading clubs]. Year after year we lose great players and then put our faith in players with great potential” said longstanding club president President Pinto da Costa when discussing his club’s approach to transfers.

But President Pinto da Costa was deposed last year and new president André Villas-Boas has prioritised players with a different profile: 21-year-old Samu Aghehowa was signed from Atlético Madrid for €15 million, 23-year-old Gabri Veiga was brought back from Saudi, and they are in the process of signing 24-year-old Borja Sainz from Norwich City. These players all offer future value and resale potential (this is still Porto, after all) but they are also first-team ready signings, for the here and now, signed to try and help Porto compete with their rivals from Lisbon who have both stretched away from them in recent seasons.

Julio contributed two Premier League goals and two Premier League assists in his half-season at Ipswich. Before that, whilst still at the Albion, he scored a goal in both the League Cup and the FA Cup. In a season of few opportunities at Brighton, plus some time at one of the worst teams in Premier League history, that return is far from nothing. Perhaps those are the moments of ‘quality and experience’ that have attracted serial winners Inter Milan?

“It’s the revolving door transfer policy that bumps you in the arse when the injuries pile up” said James William in ‘We’re going to finish 10th forever’ “flogging any player of value means the fit, healthy and good enough replacements have already been sold for profit and the deputy an under cooked deer in the headlights”.

Photography by Andrew Forsyth

Julio Enciso may or may not reach the heights of his initial golden spell at Brighton. His ceiling may now be lowered and last season’s Julio is the new Julio, a ‘two goals and two assists’ squad guy, a league cup starter and useful bench option when the injuries pile up in the league fixtures. But what value - footballing not monetary - can be placed upon that potential impact and the difference it could make to our season?

I don’t want to finish 10th forever (a crusade that has been elevated from vital to critical by recent events). I’m sure you don’t either. I would like Fabian’s squad to be as strong as it can possibly be, to give us every chance of success next season.

And that is why whatever sort of player you are now Julio - our beautiful jewel from a golden period in our history, or a dependably ‘two goals and two assists’ cover option - I would like you to stay.