Brighton may have been unjustly defeated at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the weekend, but that does not take away the credit for the work done at the club this season. Brighton, still, played them off the park. Despite the loss, it is yet another game where Albion fans and players can come away knowing that they remain, comfortably, one of the best footballing sides in the Premier League.

To focus on the bright side, and any further evidence towards an exciting future with young Albion talents, it is safe to say Brighton and Hove Albion have done it AGAIN. Yasin Ayari is the latest diamond to be found by the Seagulls, as he has made a very bright start to his Albion career. He made his debut against Grimsby Town in the FA Cup Quarter-Final, as well as a snippet appearance against Bournemouth during the week.

The signs are good, very good in fact. A talent capable of doing many different things on a football pitch is every bit of a compliment that is reflected in the incredible recruitment work done by Brighton in recent times. Ayari has been described as a ‘complete midfielder’ in the past by Albion boss, Roberto De Zerbi, who doubled down on his comment to VAVEL prior to the Spurs fixture.

“Yes, I think he is a complete player. He has a good skill set, good technically. He has to understand our idea and style. He is very young, but I didn’t forget Billy Gilmour; as he is another important solution if Moises Caicedo has a problem, or Pascal Gross plays at right-back. Both are important and they are improving.”

As aforementioned, the signs are incredibly bright for the young Swedish talent. An early sign of a good passing range, composure on the ball, and impressive movement in a box-to-box capacity is, perhaps, what you’d expect from a man who made his Sweden full-debut at the age of 18 years old.

His will to protect Billy Gilmour without a mention is notable too, as it is clear the 21-year-old Scottish international does have a future at the club, despite some harsh links on social media over a move in January and in the summer. Another one who is seemingly very well-liked amongst the squad, and a very talented player in his days at both Chelsea and in the Scottish national team in the Euros during the summer of 2021.

On the subject of talents, Julio Enciso scored his first Premier League goal as Brighton recorded an impressive victory over Bournemouth to seal a league double over the South Coast side. Enciso has been a player highly regarded at the club, and equally highly loved. His celebration personified the feeling around the football club at the moment, as he was reduced to tears.

A very well-taken goal, too. Enciso has been criticised by some fans for playing quite erratically at times, and his most recent performances show a huge improvement in maturity. At the end of the day, he was signed directly from the Paraguayan League as an 18-year-old, it is quite an incredible story to score a first Premier League goal so quickly in this country.

Roberto De Zerbi mentioned Julio Enciso to VAVEL too, as he said:

“We have to be focussed on the improvement, for example, in the last 15 days Julio Enciso has improved a lot. One goal for him can change his confidence. Sometimes the best solution is to play on loan in another league and country, but in others you can progress like Julio. We have to pay attention to understand the progress of the players.”

Many fans pondered on the idea of the club providing a loan path for Enciso, as historically it was something that Brighton relied on to build up young players, and profit in the future; as seen with Ben White, Alexis Mac Allister, and Moises Caicedo.

From the start, it was clear that Enciso was one that everyone liked straight away, and De Zerbi appears to be a manager keener to provide these opportunities, as opposed to loans away. If De Zerbi was the manager from the beginning of the season, it begs the question of how things could have worked differently for Steven Alzate, Abdallah Sima, and Simon Adingra.

The future looks strong for Tony Bloom’s solid structure, as the European dream remains alive with a win against Chelsea at the weekend.