Facundo Buonanotte has struggled to find his place at Leeds United since arriving on loan from Brighton during the winter transfer window.
Leeds ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against Norwich City in the FA Cup on Sunday, with several squad players handed the chance to start and impress Daniel Farke at Elland Road.
Despite that, Buonanotte remained on the bench throughout the match and was not even introduced late on, even with Leeds comfortably 3-0 ahead in the closing stages.
An off-camera moment on the Whites’ bench last weekend further outlined the problems the winger has been facing since he joined Leeds in the winter window.
Former Leeds star insists Facundo Buonanotte is not a ‘Daniel Farke player’
Buonanotte has been struggling to make the matchday squads at Leeds since his arrival and is turning out to be a major dud at Elland Road.
Aidy White has taken stock of the situation and conceded that he never understood why Leeds signed him, as he does not suit the current formation.
The former White stressed that he has seen very little to suggest that the Argentinian suits Farke’s needs and is a luxury signing Leeds cannot really afford.
“It’s a weird signing, isn’t it? Considering we were chasing that number 10 role so much in the summer, and then they’ve changed the formation and brought him in regardless”, White said on the Square Ball podcast.
“From what I’ve seen of him, I just don’t think he’s a Daniel Farke player as of yet.
“I think he’s a luxury we cannot afford in our formation and the way we play.”
The club will not sign him on a permanent deal
Back in January, there was plenty of speculation that Leeds would consider making the winger’s move permanent after bringing him in on loan.
Brighton are understood to be looking for a fee of around £20m to sanction a sale in the summer, but at this stage, a deal like that seems highly unlikely.
Leeds should have money to spend once their Premier League status is secured, yet it is hard to see them committing that sort of fee for Buonanotte when the summer transfer window arrives.
Since joining the club, he has struggled to even feature regularly in matchday squads, which suggests Farke has not been fully convinced by what he has seen from the Argentine in training.
As things stand, it appears far more likely that Buonanotte will return to Brighton once his loan spell at Elland Road comes to an end in the summer.
