Leeds United are looking forward to the rest of the season following the end of the transfer window. They are keen to move on from their failures towards the end of the window, but a big snub from a top target continues to haunt officials at Elland Road.
The Whites spent more than £100m on 10 recruits in the last summer transfer window. However, their good work was overshadowed by the high-profile failures and snubs Leeds suffered in the final days of the summer shopping season.
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Fulham’s decision to change their mind about selling Harry Wilson on deadline day sparked chaos at Elland Road as Leeds were left with no time to pivot towards a different target with minutes left in the window.
However, the real cascading effect started a couple of days earlier when Leeds thought they had a deal in place to sign Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton, only for Chelsea to barge in and hijack the deal by convincing him to move to Stamford Bridge.
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Leeds United were always going to get snubbed by Facundo Buonanotte – Journalist
Buonanotte’s decision to snub Leeds in favour of Chelsea surprised many, as he would have been a key part of the Whites squad, while at Stamford Bridge, he could struggle for games.
However, journalist Graeme Bailey has revealed that Chelsea are massive admirers of the Argentinian, and he has been signed on loan with the full intention of turning it into a permanent deal.
He stressed that once Chelsea got involved, he was never going to pick Leeds in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge.
“Is it ridiculous that he chose Chelsea? If he plays 10-15 games, he gets a permanent move to Chelsea”, Bailey told Leeds United News.
“No, this is an audition for him to become a Chelsea player. Chelsea love him as a player.
“I don’t see any day of the week that Buonanotte would join Leeds over Chelsea. He will play more than you think at Chelsea. We’ll see. It’s the lad’s choice and obviously he didn’t think Leeds was the right move.”
The early signs at Chelsea for Buonanotte are not good
Bailey claimed that Chelsea are big fans of the player and the loan move is an audition for a permanent deal. However, the audition has gotten off to a rocky start.
The 20-year-old Argentine’s joining gift was to be left out of Chelsea’s Champions League squad for the league phase. He won’t be playing any European football until at least February, if any.
Leeds also signed another right winger, Alejandro Garnacho, from Manchester United on transfer deadline day to put one more player ahead of Buonanotte.
Bailey’s prediction of the winger getting ’10-15 games’ this season seems high, given the options in the Chelsea squad.
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