Leo Skiri Østigård will return to Brighton & Hove Albion after spending the 2019/20 season on loan at FC St. Pauli.
The Norway U21 player’s chances of forcing his way into Graham Potter’s plans at The Amex have only become difficult, with Ben White’s return from his loan spell at Leeds United, and the arrival of Joël Veltman from Ajax.
Earlier this month, the 20-year-old expressed his desire to continue in Germany for the upcoming season.
The centre-back has a year left on his contract with the Seagulls, and speaking to TV2 in Norway, the 20-year-old has made it clear he will not settle for a place on the bench.
“I do not intend to be a fourth choice [centre-back] now and not allowed to play. For me, the most importuning thing now is playing time,” he said.
“Yes, it will probably be a sale or a new loan. That I stay at Brighton is certainly quite unlikely now, when you look at the number of players,” he explained.
The defender also stressed his employer will prefer to send him out on loan to the Championship, meaning a return to Germany could be ruled out.
“Brighton probably want to loan me out to a club in the Championship. So, it’s a question of which clubs are coming on to the field [for me],” the Norwegian stressed.
‘It would have been nice [to return to St. Pauli], but Brighton would most like to loan me out to the Championship.
“Of course, I loved [my time in] Germany, but I never go back to another club other than St. Pauli in the Bundesliga 2. So, in that case it must be to the Bundesliga.”
