When he potentially steps out for his debut on Monday night, Facundo Buonanotte will be the third Argentinian player to represent Leicester City, and the second to have made their way to the King Power Stadium via Brighton.
Ten years ago this week, Leonardo Ulloa, then the club’s record signing after joining for £8m from the Seagulls, made his maiden outing for City in their first game back in the top flight. He made it a scoring debut as Nigel Pearson’s side kicked off the campaign with a 2-2 draw against Everton.
It was the first of 11 goals Ulloa netted that season, the striker integral to the club’s survival. If Buonanotte can get anywhere close to the impact his countryman made in his first campaign at the King Power Stadium, the decision to bring him in will go down as a masterstroke.
Right now, among supporters, there’s not much optimism of that happening. Buonanotte has not exactly torn up trees in his time at Brighton so far, albeit he is very young.
But perhaps part of the explanation of the lack of excitement around his arrival is because of the reality it exposes. It was not long ago that City would have been loaning their players to the likes of Brighton to get them game-time and develop them.
In just a few years, with City suffering a disastrous relegation and Brighton going from strength to strength in part because of their exceptional transfer business, the roles are reversed. Buonanotte’s arrival is a reminder of how far, and how quickly, City have fallen.
Manager Steve Cooper has suggested the 19-year-old has been identified by the recruitment team, rather than by him, and for the staff behind the scenes, it needs to be a successful signing. Otherwise, there will be criticism.
Usually, if a signing flops, the focus is on the expenditure and the potential waste of money. It’s different for Buonanotte. If he doesn’t hit the mark, the focus will be on the wasted opportunity to develop City’s own players.
Because City already have a 19-year-old attacking midfielder in their squad in Will Alves. He’s the club’s big hope. But instead of giving him a chance to show what he can do and to adapt to senior football, City are turning to a Brighton player and helping to develop him for the Seagulls.
Buonanotte has played 40 games in the Premier League and had more senior football in Argentina before that. Alves is yet to make his league debut. So the loanee is more likely to make an impact than City’s homegrown talent. The logic is there. Right now, Buonanotte is very likely the more effective player.
At the end of the season, he will return to Brighton with more experience, and potentially as an improved player. Alves, meanwhile, may still be craving minutes to aid his development. Buonanotte will have been the barrier to that, but if City stay up and the loanee plays a big part in their success, no questions will be asked. If City go down, then it’s a problem.
The good news is that Buonanotte is ready to come into the team straight away. He may not have featured for the club in pre-season, but Cooper says he will play a part against Tottenham on Monday.
“He’s definitely going to be involved, for sure,” the manager said. “He’s been with us and it’s been good that we’ve had quite a long week, given it’s a Monday night game. Hopefully it will be beneficial to him.
“We’ve been trying not to bombard him with too much as he’s a young player, a foreign player, and he’s coming into a new dressing room and a new area. We want to give him time to settle.
“We know we’ve signed a good player and want him to contribute the best he can. We’re trying to get that balance right, giving him as much as he needs but not so much that he stops thinking about what he’s good at and what he can give.
“We want players to be free on the pitch and make their own decisions. Sometimes that’s by what you don’t tell them rather than what you do tell them.”
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