Why Brighton should allow Jurgen Locadia to join Hoffenheim on loan
According to Brighton and Hove Independent, Brighton striker Jurgen Locadia is on the verge of completing a loan move to Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim before the closure of the European transfer window on September 2.
The 25-year-old was left out of the matchday squad by manager Graham Potter in the Seagulls’ 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Locadia started in Brighton’s 3-0 triumph over Watford in the Premier League season-opener but the Dutchman didn’t enter the field of play in the 1-1 draw at home against West Ham after failing to make any sort of positive impact.
The 25-year-old returned to action as a late substitute in the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton last week, where he missed a gilt-edged opportunity to bag the equalizer for his team towards the dying stages of the game.
Locadia, who made his move to the English south coast from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in January 2018 for a fee of £16 million, has failed to nail down a regular starting role for the Seagulls in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old has scored only 6 goals in 43 appearances for Brighton, a dismal strike rate which clearly reveals that he has struggled to acclimatise to the English game.
A two-time Eredivisie winner with PSV, Locadia amassed 62 goals and 39 assists in 176 appearances for the Dutch giants prior to his move to the Amex Stadium, but his performances for the Seagulls haven’t been anywhere close to those standards.
However, as the story goes, Hoffenheim are prepared to offer the 25-year-old an escape route and a golden chance to resurrect his career, with the report suggesting that the Germans are on the lookout for a replacement for Joelinton, who joined Newcastle United earlier in the summer.
The move, if it materializes, would see Locadia unite with his compatriot Alfred Schreuder and working under the Dutchman’s guidance might just help him regain the old prolific form that made him one of the brightest emerging prospects in Holland earlier in his career.
Locadia’s career in England has failed to take off and it seems only a matter of time before he is deemed surplus to requirements at Brighton. With that in mind, a loan move to elsewhere apparently looks perfect for all parties involved.
Hoffenheim have constantly threatened some of the top-sides in Germany over the last few years and they even played in the Champions League last season. However, they aren’t going to compete in Europe after securing a 9th-place finish in the Bundesliga in the previous campaign.
Well, that is not something that should be on the back of Locadia’s mind at the moment, given that he desperately needs to ply his trade elsewhere in a bid to get his career back on track.
And, in all honesty, the Dutchman should consider himself lucky to have an offer on the table from a club of Hoffenheim’s stature after a lacklustre spell in England. The chance that he missed against Southampton last weekend was a clear reflection of his lack of confidence and working under his fellow countryman in Germany might solve that issue.
Looking at things from Brighton’s perspective, Locadia is no longer a key part of the first-team setup, given that the club splashed the cash to bring in the likes of Neal Maupay and Leandro Trossard this summer.
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Add to that Florin Andone, Jose Izquierdo, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and the evergreen Glenn Murray, and it is pretty clear that Brighton have got enough alternatives in their ranks to do the job for them in front of goal.
All in all, Jurgen Locadia completing a loan move to Hoffenheim would be in the best interests of all parties involved.