Africa-Press – Zambia. English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion has pledged support to recently retired Chipolopolo captain Enock Mwepu. The Zambian international announced his retirement on Monday at the age of 24 after he was diagnosed with a hereditary heart condition.
Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi during his pre-match press conference on Thursday ahead of the trip to the Brentford Community Stadium on Friday evening, said he was ready to help the midfielder with anything he wants to do.
“I don’t want to talk about money, I want to talk about a human problem. I’m very sorry for Enock and his family,” he said.
“I wrote a message to him telling him I’ll be here. I’m ready to help him.” Meanwhile defender Joël Veltman believes the Computer will be a big loss for the Seagulls.
“He’s a lovely guy and an amazing professional, he will be a big loss for us,” he said.
“To not have him around the club and on the pitch is devastating. We had a meeting with [technical director] David Weir, who said that Enock had taken the news well.
He’s just had a baby daughter which is a distraction for him and his family of course, and I know how important his faith is to him but it’s not something you want at the age of 24.”
“We had seen on social media that he’d been in hospital and he hadn’t been at the training ground, but it was a shock when we were told his career was over. Everyone was really upset,” he added.
The players have sent messages of support to Enock and there will be tributes to him by the squad and among Albion fans at tomorrow’s Premier League game against Brentford.
“We will be supporting him 100%. We’ve all been messaging him and I’m sure we will see him at the training ground again soon which will be fantastic of course, but we don’t want to put any pressure on him,” he said.
“We need to let him take his time and adjust but when he needs us we will be there for him.” Mwepu was forced to end his playing career following the diagnosis of a hereditary heart condition.
The condition, which can worsen over time, would put Enock at an extremely high risk of suffering a potentially fatal cardiac event, if he were to continue playing competitive football.
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