Brighton and Hove Albion 2025 review: Who has delivered, who has flopped and transfer latest
All the latest transfer news and gossip for Brighton and Hove Albion and across the Premier League
Brighton attacker Facundo Buonanotte made a rare appearance for Chelsea in their Carabao Cup win at Cardiff.
Buonanotte was unleashed for an hour at the Cardiff City Stadium as Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals thanks to goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto.
It has though been a frustrating loan for Buonanotte at Stamford Bridge.
The 20-year-old has played just 45 minutes in the Premier League and one start from three appearances in the Champions League. His three other starts have all been the Carabao, against Lincoln, Wolves and Cardiff.
It maybe slightly harsh to call it wasted season for the Argentina playmaker but it's also difficult to know what Buonanotte has gained by sitting on the bench at Chelsea. He could easily have done that at Brighton, and most likely had more gametime.
Enzo Maresca: Buonanotte is not playing a lot
"Facu is not playing a lot," said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after the win at Cardiff.
"So we expect some difficulty in the first half, and then in the second half, with the change, we were quite better.”
Brighton have been a little short of attacking options this season. Last summer they sold Joao Pedro and Julio Enciso, Evan Ferguson and Matt O'Riley were allowed to leave on loan to Roma and Marseille respectively.
Kaoru Mitoma and the untested Tommy Watson have struggled with injuries this term, Stefanos Tzimas is now out for the season with ACL damage and Geoginio Rutter has scored just once all season.
“Let's see when January comes," said Albion boss Fabia Hurzeler, when asked if recalling Buonanotte in January is an option. "As to how we try to make the team better and what changes we want to do. But now we still have a few weeks to go.”
Verdict
The Brighton man reportedly had the chance to join Leeds on loan at the start of the season and that, on the face of it, would probably have been a better move - in terms of PL gametime.
Perhaps Buonanotte thought it would be similar to his experience at Leicester or perhaps the chance to join Chelsea was too good refuse.
Minutes at Stamford was always going to be an issue and it's little surprise that Buonanotte hardly feature despite the club playing Champions League, Premier League and Carabao.
Maresca's options are vast and returning to Brighton this January or going somewhere else for the second half of the season seems the best move for the 20-year-old. Personally I would like to see him at Brighton but if everyone is fit, does Buonanotte start for Hurzeler?
The club - rightly or wrongly - currently have Georginio and Gruda ahead in the pecking order for the playmaker role. Whatever the situation, he should be playing, he's too good to be sitting on a bench!
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