Leeds United are set to miss out on the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Facundo Buonanotte.
It’s been made clear that Farke wants a versatile creative player and Facundo Buonanotte can be utilised as a right-sided winger or No.10. The 49ers had earmarked him as both for Leeds United.
It comes after Leeds United News exclusively revealed Brighton’s stance on Buonanotte and that Leeds have ‘never left the table’ this summer, with interest in his signature throughout.
Ben Jacobs then revealed West Ham United and Leeds were leading the Buonanotte race and a loan bid was said to be being considered by the Whites ahead of the transfer deadline.
Leeds United target Facundo Buonanotte’s deal with Chelsea is due to Tottenham
Another report claimed Brighton preferred a loan to England as well this summer. It was then that Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler even commented on Buonanotte’s exit earlier today.
Graham Smyth confirmed Buonanotte’s Thursday flight was cancelled last night. Initially, it was not known why. However, the latest news is that Chelsea have hijacked the move for Buonanotte instead, with BlueCo also agreeing a loan.
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However, today, Romano announced Tottenham Hotspur had struck a deal for Simons after missing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, which was set to leave Chelsea short.
Enzo Maresca’s side want a profile who is versatile enough to feature out wide or in central attacking areas, which is why they have swooped for Buonanotte.
Beren Cross of The Athletic has confirmed that Spurs’ move for Simons has triggered the move from Chelsea to hijack Leeds’ deal with Brighton for the Argentine.
Graham Smyth’s view of the Facundo Buonanotte situation
Having had Igor Paixao snatched away from them at the 11th hour, Leeds are now searching for another creative player due to the same happening to their Buonanotte deal.
Graham Smyth has detailed it as “Paixao episode II”. He adds that Leeds thought they were close to having it done, hence the booked flight yesterday.
Smyth states: “For it to happen this close to the deadline is so, so far from ideal. This weekend will now be a serious test of Leeds’ agility in the transfer market.”
It will be a test of what they are now able to do with just under four days remaining to finalise their transfer business and feel that they then have a Premier League squad.