Italian giants tracking Mitoma, Albion matches rescheduled, & other Brighton news from the last 7 days (Brighton news roundup Oct. 13-19)
Bring on Newcastle and Man Utd.
Brighton take on Newcastle today and the Women’s team are set to host Manchester United in a record-breaking game at the Amex. To help you get ready for those big matches, here are all the Brighton news stories from the last seven days that you might’ve missed.
Transfer News
Incoming Transfers
Gustavo Sá - Brighton and Brentford to battle for Portuguese starlet
TuttoMercatoWeb have reported that Brighton, Brentford, Bologna, and Lazio are tracking Famalicão midfielder Gustavo Sá. The 19-year-old broke into the Famalicenses’ first team last season. Sá had three goals and five assists in 28 Primeira Liga matches. He recently made his debut with the Portugal U21 team.
Rayan - Seagulls linked to Vasco da Gama wonderkid
TBR Football transfer specialist Graeme Bailey claims Brighton are interested in Brazilian winger Rayan. The 18-year-old Vasco da Gama star is also on the radars of West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, and Fulham.
Outgoing Transfers
Kaoru Mitoma - Napoli looking to reinforce squad with Brighton star
Another report from TuttoMercatoWeb claims that Napoli are in the market to bring in another Asian player after their success with Kim Min-Jae in their Scudetto-winning season two years ago. The Azzurri have identified Japanese internationals Takefusa Kubo and Kaoru Mitoma as their top targets.
Napoli want to sign either player before the start of next season. However, the Italian club will have to offload Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or Victor Osimhen first before they can sign Mitoma or Kubo.
Other News
Brighton Women expecting record crowd against Manchester United
Today is an Albion double header. Before the Men’s team play Newcastle, Brighton Women will take on Manchester United at the Amex at 12:30pm BST (7:30am EDT). The club have sold a record amount of tickets and expect a record attendance at the match. The previous record is 7,329, from when the Albion played Arsenal at the Amex in 2019.
You can watch the Brighton vs. Man Utd match for free on the WSL YouTube channel. A win will the Seagulls go top of the WSL table.
Kiko Seike wins another Player of the Month Award
After winning the WSL Player of the Month Award for September, Brighton forward Kiko Seike has now won the Fans' PFA Player of the Month Award for September.
Albion’s winter matches rescheduled
Several Brighton matches in December and January have been rescheduled for television broadcasts. Most notably, the Albion’s home game against Crystal Palace has been rescheduled to Monday December 16 at 8pm GMT (3pm EST). You can see the full slate of changes on the club website here and the updated schedule below.
Julio Enciso’s emotional rollercoaster of an international break
After “almost dying” on his flight to join the Paraguay national team last week, Julio had a very tough time of things with La Albirroja. In Paraguay’s second match of the international window, against Venezuela, La Joya missed a penalty and broke down on the pitch in tears just before half time.
Enciso requested to be subbed out of the match, but his manager Gustavo Alfaro encouraged him to stay in the game. The 20-year-old played in the second half, helping Paraguay secure a 2-1 win over Venezuela.
After the match, Enciso admitted that he has been suffering from a lack of confidence and that he had lost his focus on football recently. He apologized to Paraguay fans and says he is committed to improving.
Injury Updates (direct quotes or summaries of quotes from Hurzeler)
Jan Paul van Hecke “will be an option” against Newcastle.
Matt O’Riley & Joao Pedro “will take a little bit more time” and are not available for Newcastle.
James Milner has suffered an injury setback. “We have to be more patient,” says Hurzeler.
Adam Webster “will miss the game against Newcastle.”
Solly March “is doing quite good mentally and physically.” He needs “a lot of time” to recover from such a serious injury. “There will be ups and downs.”
Carlos Baleba, Julio Enciso, & Georginio Rutter, who all suffered injuries during the international break, are presumed to be fit. Hurzeler did not mention them specifically, but said “the rest will be available” after highlighting the players above who are not fit enough to play.