On July 7th, we carried a report from TuttoMercatoWeb, who explained that Ezequiel Schelotto is expected to leave Brighton & Hove Albion this summer after the two parties were far away from reaching agreement for an extension.
The 31-year-old’s contract with the Seagulls expires after this season and he has now decided to leave the Premier League club, three years after joining them from Sporting.
This was confirmed by the right-back during an interview with TuttoMercatoWeb.
“I’ve been here for three years. I thank the club that opened the doors to the best league in the world. We were talking about the renewal, I was positive: I thought I could stay, but they set different conditions than I imagined,” he said.
The former Atalanta man also suggested he couldn’t agree with Brighton’s sporting plans for the future, which is why he has decided to leave Graham Potter’s side.
“Last week when we sat down to talk, I was available. My agents had been talking to the directors for some time. But then together with my agent Alessandro Grigoletto, I asked about the sporting project and we did not agree,” the defender explained.
“I wanted a little gratitude after what I did for this shirt, and it wasn’t the case. I am thirty-one years old and I have so much to give to football. At Brighton I say thank you, but I must continue on my way.”
The player’s comments give an indication that his desire was to continue in England and he sounds disappointed he can no longer do that. He made only six starts for Brighton in all competitions this season.
Schelotto spent most of his playing career in Serie A and has not ruled out returning to Italy this summer.
“I don’t exclude anything. I played in Italy and I know the championship well. I clearly like Italy. We will see what will happen. I am looking for a project in line with my expectations. I’m neither old nor young,” he added.
“It [Torino] is an important team with great fans. At Atalanta I lived two wonderful years, I was the national team and Inter. In life you never know…”
