Chelsea sanction Facundo Buonanotte exit in Leeds transfer twist as medical booked | OneFootball

Blues content for little-used Brighton loanee to swap Stamford Bridge for Elland Road

Facundo Buonanotte’s loan spell at Chelsea has been cut short so that he can join Leeds.

The Argentine arrived at Stamford Bridge on a season-long loan from Brighton on Deadline Day in the summer.

However, he has struggled for game time at Chelsea, especially since Cole Palmer, who plays in the same attacking midfield position, returned from a groin injury.

Buonanotte is now leaving Chelsea six months earlier than originally planned in order to join Leeds on a loan that will see him spend the rest of the 2025-26 campaign at Elland Road.

Standard Sport understands that he is travelling to Leeds on Thursday afternoon in order to undergo a medical with his new club.

Buonanotte was close to joining newly-promoted Leeds on loan in the summer before Chelsea hijacked the deal late on in what was viewed at the time as a surprise move.

He was seen by Chelsea chiefs as an affordable option to add depth in attack, but has started just once in the Premier League all season - against Brentford in September.

That is also his only league appearance of the campaign so far. The former Leicester loanee scored once in eight appearances for Chelsea in total, with six of those outings coming in either the Champions League or Carabao Cup.

Buonanotte’s last appearance came as part of a much-changed team that beat second-tier Charlton 5-1 last weekend in the FA Cup third round in what was new head coach Liam Rosenior’s first game in charge.

His only goal for the Blues came back in September, when he scored the winner against League One side Lincoln in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Buonanotte - who was an unused substitute during Wednesday night’s 3-2 defeat by Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final - will be the second player to leave Chelsea so far this month, with former Under-21s captain Leo Castledine joining Middlesbrough on a permanent deal last week.

Chelsea have also recalled left-back Caleb Wiley and goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe early from respective loan spells at Watford and Bolton.

Leeds will hope to have Buonanotte signed in time for Saturday’s visit of Fulham to Yorkshire in the top-flight.