Julio César Enciso Espínola (born 23 January 2004) is a Paraguayan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger for club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, and the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Early career

Enciso started playing football at his local club, at Caaguazú, Paraguay. At twelve years old he was recruited by Libertad. Enciso made his senior debut for Club Libertad on 17 March 2019, aged 15, in a 4–0 home victory against

Deportivo Santaní Club Deportivo Santaní, is a Paraguayan football club based in the city of San Estanislao, locally known as ''Santaní''. The club was founded February 27, 2009 and plays in División Intermedia, the second division in the Paraguayan football l ...

. He became the youngest player to debut with Libertad.

Brighton and Hove Albion

On 17 June 2022, Enciso transferred to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

for a transfer fee of £9.5 million plus future add-on fees, signing an initial four-year contract. He made his Brighton debut on 24 August, playing 80 minutes of the 3–0 away win over League One side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

second round, where he claimed assist to Steven Alzate's long range goal. Enciso made his

debut on 29 October, coming on as a 65th minute substitute for Adam Lallana in Brighton's 4–1 home win over Chelsea. He scored his first goal for the club on 4 April 2023, in a 2–0 away win at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. Nearly two weeks later, he scored in a 1–2 away win over Chelsea, helping the Albion secure a victory at Stamford Bridge for the first time in their history. Enciso started in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

on 23 April, playing 67 minutes as Brighton eventually lost 7–6 on penalties to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Three days later, the 19-year–old made his first Premier League start for the ''Albion,'' in the 3–1 away loss at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. Three days after that on 29 April, he made two assists in Brighton's 6–0 home victory over the

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, Brighton's biggest Premier League victory. On 14 May, Enciso opened the scoreline with a header from a Pervis Estupiñán cross in an eventual 3–0 away win at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He scored his first goal at

Falmer Stadium Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Stadium for sponsorship reasons and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a association football, football stadium in Falmer, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. With a capacity o ...

on 24 May, scoring a 25-yard goal against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, with Brighton sealing a place in the

2023–24 UEFA Europa League The 2023–24 UEFA Europa League was the 53rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 15th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at Aviva Stadium ...

. The goal was chosen as

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Goal of the Season for

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

and later chosen as

Premier League Goal of the Season The Premier League Goal of the Season is an annual football award for the player deemed to have scored the best goal in the preceding Premier League season. The shortlist features each of the season's nine Premier League Goal of the Month win ...

, beating out the likes of Brentford's

Ivan Toney Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney (born 16 March 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the England national team. Toney became the youngest player to represent Northampton Town when ...

and Newcastle's

Miguel Almirón Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala (born 10 February 1994) is a Paraguayan professional association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Midfielder#Winger, right winger for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC, Atlanta U ...

in a vote decided by a panel of experts as well as the public's opinion. Enciso also went on win the Goal of the Season at Brighton's end of season awards. On 19 August 2023, Enciso notably set up both of Solly March's goals in a 4–1 away win at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, Brighton's second match of the 2023–24 season. However, the following week, the striker suffered a knee issue and was subsequently ruled out for "a long period", according to manager

Roberto De Zerbi Roberto De Zerbi (; born 6 June 1979) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Marseille. Playing career De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four se ...

Loan to Ipswich Town

On 23 January 2025, Enciso joined fellow Premier League club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. He made his debut against Liverpool in a 4–1 loss, coming on as a substitute.

International career

Enciso is a Paraguayan youth international, having played with the Paraguay U15 side at the

2019 South American U-15 Championship The 2019 South American Under-15 Football Championship was the 9th edition of the South American Under-15 Football Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the CONMEBOL for the men's under-15 national teams ...

. He first represented the senior Paraguay national team in a 3–1

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

win over

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

on 14 June 2021.

Player profile

Enciso plays as a central forward and is right-footed. Agile in his movements, with a good sense of goal, a precise shot from mid-range, and skill in

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

. In addition to his main position as a central forward, he can also play on the wings as an attacker or in a more central role, such as an attacking

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or false 9. In an interview with ''

Infobae Infobae is an international Argentine online newspaper. It was launched in 2002 by businessman Daniel Hadad, with the original headquarters in Buenos Aires. The company expanded globally with local editions in New York City, Mexico City, Miami ...

'', Enciso expressed his willingness to occupy different positions within the team and his ability to adapt to the coach's requirements. In another interview, Enciso mentioned that he drew inspiration from his compatriot

Óscar Cardozo Óscar René Cardozo Marín (; born 20 May 1983), best known as Tacuara (Guarani language, Guarani for Guadua), is a Paraguayan professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Club Liberta ...

, with whom he shared a team at

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

. He also spoke about his admiration for

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely reg ...

, whom he considers his idol, and his attentive observation of

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

’s plays. In 2021, Enciso was included in the list of the top sixty footballers born in 2004, compiled by the British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. In June 2023, he was nominated for the

Golden Boy Award The Golden Boy is an award established by Tuttosport that is given by sports journalists to a young male footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nom ...

, given annually by the Italian newspaper ''

Tuttosport ''Tuttosport'' is a daily sports newspaper based in the city of Turin, Italy. History and profile ''Tuttosport'' was first published on 30 July 1945. Renato Casalbore (who later died in the 1949 Superga air disaster alongside the Grande Torino ...

'', ranking 48th among the 100 candidates. Both Enciso and Argentine

Alejandro Garnacho Alejandro Garnacho Ferreyra (born 1 July 2004) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Argentina national ...

were the only South American representatives selected for this recognition. On 17 July 2024, Enciso was recognised as the second-best U-21 player in the world in terms of creativity and effectiveness in finishing plays, second only to French player

Rayan Cherki Mathis Rayan Cherki (born 17 August 2003) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the France nat ...

. This recognition comes from an analysis by the Centre International d'Etude du Sport (CIES) and was shared through X. Enciso scored 78.7 out of 100, standing out for his ability to create goal-scoring opportunities and take shots on target, although the analysis did not evaluate the accuracy of his shots.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.''

Honours

Libertad * División Profesional: 2021 Apertura, 2022 Apertura Individual *

BBC Goal of the Season In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's ''Match of the Day'', in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten G ...

Goal of the Season:

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the player judged to have scored the most ae ...

Nominee: 2023 Records * Youngest player to score a goal on his debut in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

(16 years and 307 days). * Youngest player to score in the Copa Libertadores in the 21st century (16 years and 307 days). * First Paraguayan footballer nominated for the

. * First Paraguayan footballer nominated for the Puskás Award, also the first as a finalist for the award. * Fourth youngest footballer in history to debut for the Paraguay national team (17 years, 1 month, and 18 days). * First Paraguayan footballer chosen as the Goal of the Season by ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

'', as well as the

. * Second youngest player in history to score against

in their own stadium (19 years and 111 days).

References

External links

Julio Enciso
at Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Enciso, Julio 2004 births Living people Footballers from Caaguazú Department Paraguayan men's footballers Men's association football forwards Club Libertad footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Paraguayan Primera División players Premier League players Paraguay men's youth international footballers Paraguay men's international footballers 2021 Copa América players 2024 Copa América players Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Paraguay 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen