Ipswich Town loanee Jeremy Sarmiento may not return to Portman Road next season as Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi has admitted that the attacker “needs to play in a different context.
The Tractor Boys shocked the footballing world by earning back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, becoming the first team in English football since Nigel Adkins’ Southampton in 2012 to achieve this feat.
One of the most important goals en route to Kieran McKenna’s side returning to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years was Sarmiento’s late strike to earn a 3-2 victory over the Saints back at the start of April.
The Ecuador international was brought on by McKenna with one minute of normal time remaining, replacing top scorer Conor Chaplin which was a bold move by the former Manchester United assistant coach. However, it was a risk that paid dividends as Sarmiento poked the ball home in the seventh minute of stoppage time to clinch a huge victory for the East Anglian outfit, sending Portman Road into sheer pandemonium.
This wasn’t Sarmiento’s only important goal for Ipswich Town in his six-month loan spell. The 21-year-old also bagged a late equaliser to snatch a point against Leicester City shortly after joining the club on loan in January.
Nonetheless, the Ecuadorian was never one of the first names on the teamsheet and in his recent press conference, Brighton head coach De Zerbi has hinted that this is the reason why Sarmiento’s future may not lie with the Tractor Boys [quotes via Sussex World]:“I followed him. I watched many games. He didn’t play so many games in the first XI but he was important for Ipswich. In West Bromwich the same, I think. He needs to play in a different context.
“He can play No.10, he can play winger but he has to play a particular type of football. Ipswich and West Bromwich played in a good style. He can be important next season, but we have to analyse the squad.
”Writer’s ViewIncidentally, should West Bromwich Albion earn promotion back to the Premier League by the end of the month, Sarmiento will have helped two different Championship clubs get promoted in the same campaign but didn’t play a key role in either side.
Sarmiento made 43 appearances in all competitions this season for both the Baggies and Ipswich Town but played just 1,470 minutes in total which comes to merely 34 minutes per appearance, hence why De Zerbi may not be keen on sending him back to Portman Road.
