Brighton youngster Jayson Molumby could be in line for a Premier League debut against Manchester United on Saturday, with Graham Potter seemingly dropping a potential selection hint about the midfielder.
The 21-year-old was not involved in last night’s Carabao Cup win over Preston but, when addressing the matter of his omission after the game, Potter said it was “just precautionary for the weekend – we decided to leave him tonight” (as per The Argus).
The manager’s comments come in the wake of transfer rumours linking the Republic of Ireland international with a second loan move to Millwall, having also had a spell there last season.
Molumby has so far made just three senior appearances for Brighton, all of them in the Carabao Cup – although the most recent of those was against Portsmouth last week, when he filled in at right-back and impressed by making five clearances and completing 53 of his 59 passes (90% success rate).
His loan spell at Millwall in 2019/20 gave him a chance to obtain regular first team football, starting 31 Championship matches and playing 40 times in total for the Lions (as per TransferMarkt).
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Potter has a vacancy to fill in central midfield for the Manchester United game on Saturday with Yves Bissouma suspended after his red card at Newcastle, with his options set to be lessened by the impending departure of Dale Stephens to Burnley.
While there may be an element of risk in throwing Molumby straight into the team on Saturday for his Premier League debut, the sudden reduction of midfield options could give Potter the perfect opportunity to do so.
Indeed, it was around this time last year that the 21-year-old’s international colleague Aaron Connolly was given a full top-flight debut by Potter and repaid the manager’s faith with two goals in a 3-0 drubbing of Tottenham (as per BBC).
Molumby’s defensive midfield role makes him highly unlikely to repeat Connolly’s feat, but it shows that Potter is willing to give youth its fling when he feels that the time is right – which he seemingly does for the Waterford native judging by his comments after the Preston game.
Brighton fans, are you hopeful that Molumby will feature against Manchester United on Saturday? Join in the discussion by commenting below!
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