Facundo Buonanotte’s loan move has freed up a Champions League place at Chelsea.
Chelsea are set to resume their Champions League campaign on Wednesday against David Luiz’s Pafos at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have won three, drawn one, and lost two so far, so there is still plenty of work to be done if we are to secure a top-eight place to go straight to the round of 16.
Interestingly, there will be movement in the Chelsea squad after Facundo Buonanotte sealed a loan move to Leeds United until the end of the season.
Buonanotte actually came close to joining Leeds in the summer, before making a drastic switch to Chelsea out of nowhere.
Are you SAD to see Facundo Buonanotte go? 👋🥺
He's off to Leeds.
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Chelsea to add Dario Essugo to their Champions League squad
Dario Essugo has only just returned from injury and is now thrown straight into the Champions League squad for the remainder of the campaign.
It’s a role reversal, as Essugo dropped out of the European squad for Buonanotte towards the start of the season.
According to The Athletic, the midfielder will be added to the squad ahead of Chelsea’s league phase fixture against Pafos on Wednesday.
Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos are the only other fit central midfielder at Chelsea, with Romeo Lavia still recovering from his injury.
It’s time to cut our losses and sign a player who can actually run 🤕
Thoughts?
Romeo Lavia update
Photo by Qian Jun/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images
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Dario Essugo’s three appearances for Chelsea
Dario Essugo has made three official appearances for Chelsea, all of which occurred during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in June 2025.
However, he has yet to make his competitive debut in the Premier League or domestic cup competitions due to a significant injury.
Enzo Maresca admitted that he had a good feeling about the Chelsea wonderkid, who only made the move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
And having seen Rosenior’s inclusion of Marc Guiu in his starting XI to face Arsenal, you wouldn’t rule out the youngster getting a chance in the competition.
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