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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Early career

Enciso started playing football at his local club, at Caaguazú, Paraguay. At eleven years old he was recruited by the

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

. 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 ...

. He became the youngest player to debut with Libertad.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 17 June 2022, Enciso transferred to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

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 The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

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 Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Lallana began his youth career with AFC Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 200 ...

in Brighton’s 4–1 home win over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

International career

Enciso is a Paraguayan youth international, having played with the Paraguay U15 side at the 2019 South American U-15 Championship. 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 football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021. The tour ...

win over

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

on 14 June 2021.

Career statistics

*Note: Libertad statistics not included in table

International

Honours

Club Libertad * División Profesional: 2021 Apertura * Copa Paraguay: 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Enciso, Julio 2004 births Living people People from Caaguazú Department Paraguayan footballers Association football forwards Paraguay international footballers Paraguay youth international footballers Club Libertad footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Paraguayan Primera División players Paraguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in England