Facundo Buonanotte told he won’t start for Leeds United – This is what Daniel Farke has said
Daniel Farke has admitted that Facundo Buonanotte wasn’t signed to be a starting player for Leeds United.
Buonanotte looked set to join Leeds on a season-long loan last summer, only for Chelsea to pinch the Argentine right under their noses from Brighton.
However, the 21-year-old was used sparingly at Stamford Bridge, and after seeing his minutes dry up, the attacking midfielder headed to Elland Road for the rest of the season last month.
After a handful of cameos for Farke‘s side in the Premier League, Buonanotte was ineffective in Leeds’ FA Cup fourth round win over Birmingham City on Saturday, with the loanee hooked at half-time.
Now, Farke has given a candid response when asked about Buonanotte’s outing at St. Andrew’s, his chances of game time at Leeds, and more.
Daniel Farke not writing Facundo Buonanotte off despite Leeds criticism
Farke stressed that it was important not to get too carried away by Buonanotte’s subpar display against Birmingham, also saying fans should expect him to waltz his way into the starting line-up, either.
Farke told reporters, via Leeds Live: “It is important not to get carried away by a signing. This is more or less the message I gave to Facundo. We haven’t signed him to be in the starting XI. We wanted to strengthen the numbers, and we spoke openly with Facundo about [game time chances].
“It is never easy when you haven’t played in such a long time. It’s step by step to work hard in training. He didn’t have the best game in the cup, but this is a bit expected when you bring a player in who has rarely played a game.
“My expectations are not that he would be straight away ahead of others. For a loan, it should be like this. His mother club (Brighton) has sent him out on loan, and they are not far away from us in the league.
“If he did come straight in, then it would not be a good sign. It’s not like I’m writing him off. He will get my support and an arm around the shoulder.”
Farke also stressed that we have to get rid of the notion that Leeds have to play a loanee if they join from another Premier League side.
The German added that this is often the case in the Championship, but not now.
Moreover, if Leeds did sign an attacking midfielder who was ready to start for the club, he would cost around £30million, with Brenden Aaronson and Noah Okafor other options in that area of the pitch.
Was Leeds’ January transfer window a waste of time?
For multiple transfer windows, Farke has called on Leeds to sign a number 10. Sure enough, the 49ers Enterprises answered his call with Brighton loanee Buonanotte, but so far, he has underwhelmed.
Against Birmingham, he looked like a player who had been starved of minutes this season.
He ended up being Leeds’ sole first-team signing in the January window, despite their best efforts to sign Wolves striker Jorgen Strand Larsen – who eventually joined Crystal Palace for £48m.
Leeds are six points clear of the bottom three and sit 15th, but that gap could close after they take on third-placed Aston Villa and then Manchester City in their next two fixtures.
For now, it seems Leeds may have enough quality to stay in the Premier League, but it does beg the question, why didn’t the Yorkshire outfit take the insurance option of buying more strength in depth last month?
If Buonanotte is going to be a fringe player at best, shouldn’t Leeds have pushed harder to recruit someone who could move the needle a bit more at Elland Road?
Only time will tell if Leeds were right to stick rather than twist in the winter window.
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