A player's decision to snub Leeds United to join a Premier League rivals has been snubbed.
Facundo Buonanotte’s decision to snub a move to Leeds United in favour of a season-long loan switch to Chelsea has been branded as one of the worst deals of the summer transfer window.
The twice-capped Argentina international was believed to be in line for a move to Elland Road as the Whites looked to add some creativity to Daniel Farke’s squad in the final weeks of what had been already been a hectic summer transfer window - but Buonanotte opted against the move at the last minute before making a surprise switch to Chelsea hours later.
After putting pen-to-paper on the deal, the attacking midfielder told the Blues website: 'I’m very happy to join Chelsea. It’s a great opportunity for me and I’m just looking to add as much to the squad as possible, help the team and help the staff.”
He went into greater detail when speaking to the media in Argentina after linking up with his national team as he added: “What you want is to play so you can be in the Argentine national team, but when a club as big as Chelsea comes along, you can’t say no. I wanted to take on this challenge to prove I’m up to it. (I’m) very happy and very comfortable. It’s (the Premier League) the best league in the world. It never ceases to surprise you. Something different can happen every minute.”
Despite his optimism over the move, Buonanotte has made just three appearances for the Blues and just one of those has come as part of a Premier League starting XI. The former Rosario Central man did grab his first goal for Chelsea in a 2-1 Carabao Cup win against Lincoln City last month and will hope to make a more sustained impact at Stamford Bridge over the coming weeks and months.
However, an annual survey of football agents conducted by The Athletic has identified Buonanotte’s move to Chelsea as one of the top ten most surprising deals across the Premier League during the summer transfer window. Arsenal’s move for Christian Norgaard tops that list alongside Manchester City’s signing of Paris Saint-Germain and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma - but Bounanotte’s loan switch to Chelsea is also named as one of the worst deals of the window alongside Manchester United’s costly addition of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.
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