Medical insider: Enock Mwepu may return to Brighton in new role after talks update
Enock Mwepu may return to Brighton & Hove Albion in a “day-to-day or ambassadorial role”.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Brighton confirmed earlier this week (10 October) that Mwepu had been forced to retire at the age of just 24 after being diagnosed with a hereditary heart condition.
As quoted by club media on Thursday (13 October), Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi revealed he is “ready to help” the former midfielder with his next steps and had been in contact with him about that.
“It’s absolutely tragic,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“There are two ways you can look at this. There is the side that says this footballer has had his career cut short effectively overnight. He seemingly had the world at his feet as a Premier League footballer on one of the world’s biggest stages.
“On the other hand, you can look at this illness that he picked up on international duty that prompted these tests that highlighted this hereditary heart problem as a bit of a blessing.
“It will take a while for this to sink in. It will be very raw. There will be a period of reflection, maybe a period of time away from football altogether where he may spend some time back in his home country with family and close friends. He can then reflect and re-evaluate the situation.
“At this point, he says the future will involve football in one way, shape or form. How does this look at this point in time? We’re not really sure.
“The club will be very keen to maintain those links whether we’re talking on a day-to-day basis or maybe an ambassadorial role.
“At 24 years of age, I was talking to someone within the game about this, there will be no plans at this stage of his career.
“There will have been no discussions about what you do when you retire. There will be no foundational work done about what you can move in to when you retire.
“You’re 24, you just want to play football, you’re living the dream. All of this will be a massive shock to the system.
“I just wish him well and we’re sure we’ll see him in some capacity again, it just remains to be seen what that is.”
In other news, there has been a major update on Steven Gerrard’s future at Aston Villa as sack talks are held.