Furious Chelsea fans claim they should have kept £17m loanee instead of Facundo Buonanotte

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History could be about to repeat itself as Chelsea prepare to sign yet another Brighton player.

Brighton attacker Facundo Buonanotte, 20, looks like he’s about to become the latest individual to move directly from the Amex Stadium to Stamford Bridge. The transfer rumour mill has linked the Argentine youngster with a move to Chelsea on loan.

The Blues have signed the likes of Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez and Moises Caicedo from their Premier League rivals in recent years. In fact, Chelsea also like Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke.

However, Seagulls playmaker Buonanotte, who spent last season on loan at Leicester City, could soon join Chelsea on a temporary basis in the final days of the summer transfer window.

• READ MORE: What Brighton insiders said about Joao Pedro before selling him to Chelsea this summer

Chelsea on verge of signing Facundo Buonanotte on loan

According to The Athletic, Chelsea are close to signing Buonanotte on loan after his move to Leeds United collapsed.

The report explains that the Blues want to sign a new attacking midfielder. With Chelsea target Xavi Simons agreeing to join Tottenham, they’ve turned their attention to the Brighton-owned talent.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed via X that Chelsea actually have an agreement in place for Buonanotte after the player accepted the loan switch.

While Buonanotte is obviously a step down from a profile like Simons, he does have Premier League experience. We’d expect the South American youngster to help out as a squad member for the busy 2025/26 season.

Furious Chelsea supporters insist they should have kept Kendry Paez

Unfortunately, Blues fans on social media are very negative about the breaking news regarding Buonanotte’s potential arrival from Brighton on loan.

Many of them on X claim it would have made much more sense to keep their loanee Kendry Paez. Instead, Chelsea sent their 18-year-old attacking playmaker on a season-long loan to sister club Strasbourg.

One fan wrote: “We could’ve kept Paez instead of this guy.”

“Most pointless signing. Might as well have kept Paez,” another commented.

One supporter posted: “Why loan out Paez just to make a sideways step for Facundo Buonanotte?”

“Why did we loan Paez again?” another said.

In fairness, the Chelsea fanbase do make a valid point.

Even though Buonanotte is a talented youngster with Premier League experience, it’s hard to imagine him making too much of an impact at Chelsea this campaign. The fact that he’s only joining on loan is quite telling, too.

Paez, who Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior rates already, looks like he could be a future star. We can understand why fans may have preferred the £17m teenager (Sky Sports) to spend this season with the first team, even if he should get more minutes during his loan spell in France.