Leeds United ended their summer transfer window on a pretty terrible note. After missing out on major targets, they were now scrambling to get some alternatives.
The club was eyeing moves for the likes of Dilane Bakwa, Gus Hamer and Bilal El Khannouss. What frustrated fans the most was the two failed transfer moves around the deadline. The main one was the failure to sign Fulham’s Harry Wilson, and waiting till the last minute before making that offer.
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But what seems to bother Leeds fans even more is the Facundo Buonanotte deal. Everyone thought the transfer was in the bag. The Whites had got permission from Brighton and even booked a flight for the player. Eventually, Chelsea swooped in at the last minute to hijack the deal.
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Graham Smyth thinks Leeds United should have done more to sign Facundo Buonanotte
Credit: Imago
Smyth was discussing the failed Buonanotte move on the The Inside Elland Road Podcast. To him, he felt Leeds were very naive in their approach to the latter stages of the window.
“They acknowledge that it was deflating that they didn’t get the last bit. There’s a little bit of, ‘well, what could we do about Chelsea coming in for Buonanotte? I mean, in isolation, I’m not seeking to defend anybody here, but why on earth has Buonanotte gone to Chelsea?
“I mean, he’s already just just a day or so in. This kind of, oh, at least he’ll be able to play in the Champions League stuff has been shown to be complete nonsense. They haven’t included him in the squad. He’s not going to get minutes.
“They signed [Alejandro] Garnacho. They’ve got loads of attackers there. And it’s only a loan. It doesn’t it doesn’t make sense from anyone’s point of view this one to me.
“It doesn’t let Leeds United off the hook at all for what’s going on at the minute. But, in isolation, you just think somebody needed to get in his ear and say, ‘hang on, just hang on a minute. I know you might not want to be in another relegation battle, but you’re going to play a lot of football. You’ll still be a Brighton player.’
Just days after being announced, the Argentine was left out of Chelsea’s Champions League squad for the group phase. Which made Leeds fans more baffled about how they lost out on signing Buonanotte.
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