Brighton boss De Zerbi jabs Hughton over Tariq Lamptey’s inclusion in AFCON squad

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi has expressed surprise at Chris Hughton’s decision to include the injured Tariq Lamptey in Ghana’s provisional squad for the 2023 AFCON.

In what was a veiled dig, De Zerbi suggested that Hughton does not watch the Premier League, hence his decision to include an injured player in his provisional squad.

The Italian coach all but ruled the defender out of the upcoming tournament, saying if he’s unfit to play for Brighton, then he cannot feature for Ghana either.

“Maybe the coach of Ghana doesn't watch the Premier League. I don’t know how much time we have played without Tariq Lamptey,” De Zerbi said.

“And if he wants to play with Lamptey, I’m happy for Tariq. But I don’t know. He's not available to play for Brighton, how can he play for Ghana?”

Lamptey has been blighted by injuries this season and was ruled out of the Black Stars’ international friendlies against Mexico and the United States of America (USA) in October.

He recovered later and enjoyed a good spell that saw him voted as Brighton’s player of the month for October.

The 23-year-old, though, suffered another injury afterwards and hasn’t kicked a ball in the two months, even missing Ghana’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Madagascar and Comoros.

However, Hughton has named him in the Black Stars’ 55-man provisional squad for the AFCON in January 2024.

Reacting to this at a press conference ahead of Brighton’s league clash against Crystal Palace on Thursday, De Zerbi questioned the rationale behind inviting an injured player.

Meanwhile, Thomas Partey is also another player who is currently injured and faces a race against time to be fit for the tournament.

The Black Stars are paired against Egypt, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group of the AFCON, which will be hosted in the Ivory Coast.