Jeremy Sarmiento offers injury update ahead of Liverpool and reveals why he left Benfica for Brighton

What should have been the proudest moment of Jeremy Sarmiento's young career so far turned into a bit of a disaster at West Ham.

The young Ecuador attacker was handed his first Premier League start by head coach Graham Potter last December at the London Stadium.

Sarmiento looked confident and assured in the opening exchanges but after just 13 minutes his hamstring went.

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The 19-year-old former Charlton youth team player was distraught as he hobbled off the pitch and prepared himself for months of rehabilitation.

Sarmiento had previously featured from the bench in the 0-0 Premier League draw against Leeds at the Amex and had also been involved in the Carabao Cup this season.

It gave Sarmiento a tantalising taste of first team football, which has helped motivate his recovery.

The Albion youngster underwent successful surgery on his hamstring and has stepped up his training in recent weeks.

He is close to first team action once more and has a chance to be in the matchday squad for this Saturday's Premier League clash against Liverpool at the Amex.

"The aim at Brighton is to keep impressing and keep getting more minutes under my belt," said Sarmiento who is contracted with Albion until 2026.

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"I’ll back myself in any situation so if I keep doing well, then hopefully I can play more games. The gaffer has told me to be myself, and repeat what I do in training in the games.

"The team is heading in the right direction and although we haven’t always got the results we would have wanted, we have real energy to keep pushing.

Sarmiento has had an unusual path to the Premier League. After leaving the Charlton youth set-up he headed to Portuguese giants Benfica.

"Benfica had been watching me throughout my final season [at Charlton] and were really keen to sign me," he said.

"Obviously Benfica are a huge club, a Champions League regular, so I decided to go there. It was a really good experience; the set-up was so different to what I had been used to and the facilities were fantastic.

"I arrived at the age of 15 and was playing UEFA Youth League games, which was something I wouldn’t have got at Charlton. The club also has a tradition of producing many players for the first team.

"I picked up the language, the playing style, and my family came with me, so overall it was the correct decision at that stage of my career.

"At the time, the coach was Rui Vitoria and he liked the academy players coming through. He gave me the chance to train with the first team on a number of occasions but then he got sacked and after that I didn’t get any further opportunities with them.

"In fact, my final year with the club was hard. I didn’t renew my contract, so I wasn’t playing, and it was quite difficult. I also picked up a couple of injuries, so it was just a case of waiting for my contract to run out."

Sarmiento had been on Brighton's radar and when the chance came the club made their move and the youngster left Portugal for the south coast.

"When it became clear I wasn’t going to renew my contract, Brighton showed an interest and I was really impressed with the set-up at the club.

"I really wanted to join and was hoping to move in January. Sadly, that didn’t happen so I had to wait until the summer, but once I signed, I was so happy, so relieved, and the club gave me so much confidence.

"Having missed out on a year’s football, it can be hard to get back into the rhythm of playing, but the club set out a plan for me from day one and it’s really gone well."

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