Facundo Buonanotte looks set to join Leicester City on loan from Brighton. It is a move which looks perfect for all three parties involved.
Buonanotte has shown flashes of brilliance in an Albion shirt since his 1.8 billion pesos arrival from Boca Juniors in January 2023.
He contributed excellent goals last season against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United. All of those arrived in a three month spell in which he got a run of games aa a number 10, which looks to be his best position.
During the same period, Buonanotte shone in the away game at Selhurst Park. Introduced at half time with Brighton trailing 1-0, Buonanotte made such a difference that he ended up topping the player ratings for 45 minutes work.
Buonanotte’s problem has been consistency. Or rather a lack of it. Hardly surprising, seeing as he is only 19-years-old.
Alexis Mac Allister did not become a first team regular at Brighton until aged 23, three-and-a-half years after the Albion signed him from Argentinos Juniors. Mac Allister also had significant loan spells back with Argentinos Juniors and at Boca Juniors under his belt.
Moises Caicedo meanwhile was aged 20 before he broke into the senior side. Caicedo had been in England 18 months and been loaned to Belgian side Beerschot.
Circumstances have denied Buonanotte the same path of patience and loans. Injury to Adam Lallana and Brighton being in an unexpected battle for European qualification during the second half of the 2022-23 season meant he was thrown in at the deep end immediately after his signing.
Rumours then suggested Buonanotte was to head out on loan last season. But then Julio Enciso was ruled out with a meniscus tear for six months.
With the Albion fighting on four fronts, Buonanotte was instead needed to be a squad player at Brighton rather than playing first team football elsewhere.
It now looks like Buonanotte is belatedly going to his loan move. And it is a good one at that to the newly promoted Foxes, giving him a chance to prove himself at Premier League level.
The challenge for Buonanotte at the King Power Stadium is firstly to get regular minutes. He then needs to deliver performances like those against Chelsea, Sheffield United and both Palace games on a regular basis.
If Facundo Buonanotte can do that, he will be a big asset to Leicester in their quest to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Success or failure in a Foxes shirt will also put Brighton in a better position to pass judgement on whether Buonanotte has a future at the Amex.
Before the Leicester move came somewhat out of the blue, Facundo Buonanotte had been linked with a loan to Feyenoord.
That always looked a questionable destination. Delivering in the Eredivisie rarely translates to repeating the trick in the Premier League. Brighton have discovered that to their cost in the past with Alireza Jahanbakhsh and DJ Jurgen Locadia.
Feyenoord also wanted an option to buy included. It seemed an unnecessarily risk to offer such a clause for a player with the potential of Buonanotte, who also has plenty of time on his side to improve and develop.
The loan to Leicester will include no option to buy, leaving Buonanotte’s fate entirely in the Albion’s hands. A breakthrough season with the Foxes and Buonanotte can return to Brighton for 2025-26.
Should Buonanotte struggle at the King Power, the Albion can either consider selling or sending him on another loan next summer.
As a full Argentine international compared to Lionel Messi by no lesser judge than Carlos Tevez, Buonanotte should retain plenty of resale value no matter what happens with Leicester.
Brighton have never loaned a player to a fellow Premier League outfit before. The Albion previously had a policy of not selling or loaning to a ‘direct rival’; a club whom Brighton considered to be aiming for the same target as them.
This was the reason why the Seagulls refused to sell Ben White to The Leeds United in 2020, no matter how much money the 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up offered.
Leeds fans were particularly putout by the Albion’s assertion the Peacocks were relegation rivals in their first season back in the Premier League for 20 years.
The Elland Road faithful took to the internet, labelling Brighton a disgrace for not selling White when The Leeds United would be playing European football soon with the Albion back in the Championship. How did that one work out again?
Either the ‘direct rival’ policy has been dropped by Brighton. Or the club are confident enough they will not be joining Leicester in what most pundits predict will be a relegation battle for the Foxes.
It is another sign of how far Brighton have come over the past five years. Either that or there will be a monumental amount of egg om face if Buonanotte keeps Leicester up whilst the Albion end up relegated.
