Daniel Farke Makes ‘Cut This League Into Pieces’ Admission On Leeds United Star As Expectations Clear
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Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has defended loan signing Facundo Buonanotte, insisting he did not sign the Argentine to rip the Premier League to pieces and is looking for him to help keep the competition for places high.
After seeing their move for the 21-year-old hijacked by Chelsea last summer, the Whites got their wish when Buonanotte’s loan move at Stamford Bridge was cut short and he joined the Yorkshire club for the second half of the season.
Club great Michael Bridges cited the Pablo Hernandez example, to insist that Buonanotte had the potential to bring something different dynamically to Leeds’ midfield.
The 21-year-old has failed to light up Elland Road yet and, after a disappointing first half against Birmingham City in the FA Cup, where he was replaced in the 46th minute, there have been questions asked about whether the swoop made sense for Leeds.
His manager, though, has come to his defence, insisting that the club did not sign Buonanotte to light up the Leeds scene from the very outset.
Responding to a question asked at a press conference about Buonanotte, the Leeds manager said (15.17): “It is always important that you are not carried away by expectations.
“Sometimes, the feeling is when you bring in a new player, in the excitement and expectations from this player is so high that you can rarely stand up.
“The message I gave to Facundo, more or less from the moment he has arrived, it is also important for us, the perception and expectation once we do a transfer.
“So, we haven’t signed Facundo to improve straightaway our starting eleven. We have signed him in order to improve the depth of the squad.”
Farke insists he was completely clear with Buonanotte that he was bring brought in to push hard for a spot and keep his Leeds team-mates sharp.
“For that wanted to strengthen the numbers in offence.
“We spoke very open with Facundo about it.
“Once we signed him on loan in the winter, we wanted to make sure that we hold the pressure high on our other options.”
“We were very open and honest about our other options.
“We spoke openly and honestly about that – we had Noah Okafor, Brendan Aaronson, Willy Gnonto, Dan James for these positions.”
The German boss also explained he is aware that Buonanotte has not played regularly this season and does not expect him to rip Premier League defences to shreds.
“And of course he comes into this situation during the season which is never easy, hasn’t played for such a long time.
“It is never easy and for that we said ‘okay we give you more or less the spotlight, we give you the stage and all the support, arm around your shoulder, we don’t expect you to cut this league into pieces, more or less, step by step, work hard in training, work hard in moments you get minutes anyhow to bring yourself into a good shape’.
“To find your rhythm and confidence and if it works out great if not yes, it is also loan for both sides. Not a big risk.
“But of course he didn’t have his best game in the last cup game but it is a bit realistic, expected anyhow when you bring a player in who hasn’t really played a game this happens sometimes.
“So my expectations were never that we would bring him in and he would be straightway ahead of all the others that we have got, he is in a challenging position.”
Buonanotte could face months of little game time at Leeds given the level of competition within the Whites squad, but the Argentine is a player the club rate, shown by their willingness to go back in for him after missing out last summer.
Leeds were first linked with Buonanotte in 2023.
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