3 weeks ago
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Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Facundo Buonanotte on a season-long loan deal from Brighton.
football.london understands the Blues have paid the Seagulls a loan fee of £2million for the 20-year-old's services. Leeds United were closing in on the loan signing of Buonanotte until Chelsea entered the race earlier in the week following Xavi Simons' move to Tottenham.
Chelsea were interested in signing Simons but ended up not making an official offer to RB Leipzig for the Netherlands international. Instead they moved on to other targets including Fermin Lopez and Buonanotte.
It is a straight loan deal with no option to make the move permanent. Brighton did not want to include any option to buy Buonanotte, who is rated highly at the Amex Stadium. However, they were open to allowing the Argentine to leave on loan to another Premier League club.
Buonanotte comes in as the first arrival on a dramatic deadline day at Chelsea that has seen Nicolas Jackson once more close in on an exit. He is now set to join Bayern Munich after talks opened over a loan again following their breakdown over the weekend.
After spending last season on loan at Leicester City, Chelsea have picked up Buonanotte and can use him as cover for Cole Palmer, who missed Saturday's win over Fulham with injury. Palmer also dropped out of the starting XI that beat West Ham one week earlier.
Buananotte joins Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap, Estevao Willian, and Joao Pedro, and Jamie Gittens as a new attacking option for Enzo Maresca. The young forward has operated centrally as well as from both wings in his career to date.
This is a developing news story that will be updated with relevant information as we get it. More to follow...
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