Arriving from Jönköping in Sweden back in 2018, Peter Gwargis knew he wouldn’t play for Brighton & Hove Albion’s first-team immediately.
Then came his debut in the autumn of 2019, playing against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup, with a couple more appearances taking place off the bench in the same competition this year, but the winger has yet to be selected by Graham Potter in a squad for a Premier League match.
Still only 20, Gwargis still has plenty of time to make a name for himself at the Amex Stadium or elsewhere, but he’s currently stuck with the club’s U23s, which wasn’t part of the plan.
Speaking to Fotbollskanalen in Sweden, the young forward explained: “The plan wasn’t for me to be in the U23s, but things happened, and it’s done. Now we’ll see what happens. I want to go on loan and play first-team football, which the club has also been clear is what they think. I feel the U23 stage is over.
“I think this has been a tough period for me. It didn’t go as planned, but we’ll see what happens in the future. It’s just fighting and hoping for the best. I will play as well as possible and get ready for a new challenge. That is what I’ve set myself on now”.
With the January transfer window just a couple of months away, there’s a good chance the Brighton man could end up being loaned out then, and he’s already decided he’d rather not return to Sweden if he can avoid it.
He added: “I would prefer to be abroad, as that’s what we have in mind. So Sweden is not relevant right now. There’s been interest abroad, but then things happened. We can hope for January and see what happens.
“There has been some interest from Holland, but also from England, and that’s in any case where I aim. There’s a small period left until January”.
There’s also the small matter of his contract, which is currently set to expire in the summer of 2021, and Gwargis told the website what will happen is still unclear.
He said: “There have been some negotiations and so on, but we’ll see what happens. The club really like me and have shown me a plan, but we’ll see. I like being here and thrive in the city and the team.
“Talks are paused right now, but we both know where we stand in the whole thing. The club has still show confidence in me”.
As for his ambition of playing in the Premier League, Gwargis knows he can do it, but ‘maybe not right now’: “I still feel that I’m ready for a step with a little more experience from a loan or something”
