Facundo Buonanotte turned down the chance to join us on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer transfer window, opting to go to Chelsea instead, but after failing to break into the first team there, he has come to Leeds for the rest of the season.

His decision to go to Staford Bridge always seemed an odd one, given the number of talented players ahead of him in the battle to get selected for first team games. He might have been badly advised by his agent, though there was the incentive of linking up again with Enzo Maresca, who was his manager while Buonanotte was on loan at Leicester last season.

Maresca’s departure from the Chelsea hot seat has obviously broken that link, but his lack of game time will have been the major reason why his loan spell has not been extended. He was limited to only 45 minutes in the Premier League, though he did make seven other appearances in various cup competitions.

Prior to his Leicester loan Buonanotte made 50 appearances for Brighton, and he began his career at Rosario Central in his native Argentina. That might sound more like a railway station than a football club, but they were once graced by one Marcello Bielsa and some bloke called Messi.

The 21 year-old has won two full caps for the Argentinian national team, although both were in friendly matches against minor opposition. We will now be hoping that he will provide the much-needed creativity we’ve been lacking in midfield so far this season, and help us to unlock a few defences and to get the results that our share of possession deserves.

He is most likely to be used in an attacking central midfield role, but he can also play wide on either flank if need be (maybe not so likely if we’re using a 3-5-2 formation) and can drop deep. Perhaps more importantly, he can also deliver a mean free kick, which is something we’ve lacked in recent years.

And of course, he was saying all the right things when he spoke to LUTV. “I am very happy to be here. I really wanted to come to Leeds instead of anywhere else. The time was right for me to come here to Leeds. First, I want to help Leeds. I need to do a good job here. And then, of course, if I have a chance to go to the World Cup, obviously I want to go”.

“I like to play on the line, score goals and play assists. I like to be between the lines and, of course, score. I want to show the fans my quality and how I can help the team stay in the Premier League. I am ready to play and I hope Saturday we can win.” Which is of course against the local rivals of his last loan outfit.

I’ve also seen a post on social media claiming that Buonanotte said that he’d realised he’d made a mistake in going to Stamford Bridge when he saw Leeds thrash Chelsea last month. But I don’t know if that is a genuine quote.

It could be that Buonanotte has arrived as Jack Harrion’s replacement in the squad, with the latter now on the verge of completing his loan move to Fiorentina. He’s said to be completing a medical, perhaps to see if he can move any faster than Michelangelo’s statue of David, which is already in Florence. We wish him luck in his future career.

Reuters