How Facundo Buonanotte Cost Chelsea £4,826 per Minute During Bizarre Loan Deal

Chelsea signed 12 new players in the summer before the 2025/26 season began, but one deal stuck out like a sore thumb.

It was a loan move on deadline day for Brighton & Hove Albion attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte.

Why Chelsea signing Facundo Buonanotte was a shock

It is not unusual for Chelsea to sign talented young players, even if they are not yet ready to be first-team regulars.

In fact, some would argue that has become a key part of Chelsea’s transfer plan under Todd Boehly.

Therefore, it was not strange that Chelsea decided to move for Buonanotte — a player with two senior international caps for Argentina.

What was strange was that they signed him on a season-long loan deal with no option to buy.

By doing so, Chelsea were not investing in a young player for the future — they were simply borrowing a 20-year-old fringe player.

And Buonanotte has been a fringe player at Stamford Bridge. In the 20 weeks since he joined Chelsea, Buonanotte has featured in just one Premier League match.

Excited fans likened Buonanotte to Chelsea legend Juan Mata after he scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 win over Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup on September 23. But he has only played one full match since then.

Across all competitions, he has received just 518 minutes of Chelsea game time.

Comp	Result	Mins	G	A
PL	Brentford 2-2 Chelsea	45	0	0
CC	Lincoln City 1-2 Chelsea	90	1	0
UCL	Chelsea 1-0 Benfica	54	0	0
UCL	Chelsea 5-1 Ajax	90	0	0
CC	Wolves 3-4 Chelsea	85	0	0
UCL	Qarabag FK 2-2 Chelsea	19	0	0
CC	Cardiff 1-3 Chelsea	66	0	1
FAC	Charlton 1-5 Chelsea	69	0	1

Chelsea agree to terminate Facundo Buonanotte loan deal

It emerged this week that Chelsea have agreed to terminate Buonanotte’s loan deal six months early.

But instead of returning to Brighton, Buonanotte will be loaned out to Leeds United for the remainder of the season instead.

The London club’s decision to cut their losses on Buonanotte comes just a week after Liam Rosenior was appointed as Chelsea’s fifth head coach of the Boehly era.

How much did Facundo Buonanotte cost Chelsea overall?

Chelsea paid Brighton a £2 million loan fee for Buonanotte, while also committing to covering his wages — which are believed to be around £25,000 per week.

Despite releasing him early, that loan fee will not be refunded, while his £25,000-a-week wages will have cost Chelsea £500,000.

That means Chelsea spent around £2.5 million on Buonanotte in total. That works out at roughly £4,826 per minute based on his game time, or £833,333 per goal contribution.

What has Liam Rosenior said about Facundo Buonanotte?

New boss Rosenior said earlier this week when asked about Buonanotte potentially leaving Stamford Bridge:

“Firstly, Facundo was magnificent against Charlton. Really good performance. The minutes aren’t what he wants, so we’re looking at a solution for him.

“I’m in constant conversation with the sporting director about potential transfers, but I want to assess this group because you get surprises. If we find a way to improve the team, we will look at it.”