Facundo Buonanotte

Facundo Buonanotte
Personal information
Full name Facundo Valentín Buonanotte
Date of birth (2004-12-23) 23 December 2004 (age 20)
Place of birth Pérez, Argentina
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Leicester City
(on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion)
Number 40
Youth career
2014–2022 Rosario Central
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 Rosario Central 32 (4)
2023– Brighton & Hove Albion 40 (4)
2024– → Leicester City (loan) 15 (4)
International career‡
2022– Argentina U20 3 (1)
2023– Argentina 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:13, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:18, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Facundo Valentín Buonanotte (born 23 December 2004) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Leicester City, on loan from Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, and the Argentina national team.

Club career

Rosario Central

Buonanotte is a product of the youth academy of Rosario Central since the age of 10. He made his professional debut as a substitute for Rosario Central against Arsenal de Sarandí on 11 February 2022.[1] In a Copa Argentina penalty shootout win over Sol de Mayo on 13 May 2022, he scored the game-winning penalty.[2] The next day, on 14 May 2022, he signed his first professional contract with Rosario Central.[3] He scored his first senior goal in a 1–0 Argentine Primera División win over Sarmiento on 8 July 2022.[4]

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 1 January 2023, Buonanotte joined the academy of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion for an estimated fee of £5.3m, with an additional £5.3m dependent on objectives being met.[5][6] He made his debut for the "Seagulls" on 4 February, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute replacing Tariq Lamptey as Brighton went on to beat AFC Bournemouth with a 87th-minute Kaoru Mitoma goal.[7] Buonanotte made his first start for Brighton on 28 February, playing 69 minutes of the 1–0 away win over Stoke City of the Championship with Brighton advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals.[8] Buonanotte claimed an assist four days later, setting up Danny Welbeck's strike, the last of the game in the 4–0 home win over West Ham United.[9] The 18-year-old gained his first Premier League start on 26 April, where he scored his first goal for the club, opening the score in the eventual 3–1 away loss at Nottingham Forest.[10]

Loan to Leicester City

On 10 August 2024, Buonanotte went on loan to fellow Premier League club Leicester City for the 2024–25 season.[11] He made his Leicester debut on 19 August 2024 in a 1-1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur.[12] His first goal came on 31 August in a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.[13]

International career

Buonanotte was called up to the Argentina national under-20 football team for the 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament in France.[14][15] In January 2023, he was once again called up to the national under-20 football team ahead of the 2023 South American Championship.[16]

On 3 March 2023 he received his first call-up for the Argentina senior squad for friendly matches against Panama and Curacao.[17] He made his senior debut on 19 June in a 2–0 win away to Indonesia.

Personal life

Buonanotte was born in Argentina and is of Italian descent, holding dual citizenship.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rosario Central 2022[19] Argentine Primera División 32 4 2 0 0 0 — — 34 4
Brighton & Hove Albion 2022–23[20] Premier League 13 1 1 0 0 0 — — 14 1
2023–24[21] Premier League 27 3 3 1 1 0 5[c] 0 — 36 4
Total 40 4 4 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 50 5
Leicester City (loan) 2024–25[22] Premier League 15 4 0 0 2 0 — — 17 4
Career total 87 12 6 1 3 0 5 0 0 0 101 13
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 22 March 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Argentina 2023 1 0
2024 1 0
Total 2 0

References

  1. ^ "En un flojo partido, Central y Arsenal no se sacaron ventajas". actualizate.ar.
  2. ^ "Facundo Buonanotte, la nueva joya de Central: "Esto es lo que siempre soñé"". miradorprovincial.com. 22 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Luego de firmar contrato, habló Facundo Buonanotte: "Llegué a Central a los 10 años"". Rosario3.
  4. ^ "Facundo Buonanotte y el bautismo de gol en Central: "Fue una noche soñada" – TyC Sports". tycsports.com. 10 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Facundo Buonanotte continuará su carrera en el Brighton & Hove Albion". Rosario Central (in Spanish). 2 November 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Brighton agree deal for Argentinian wonder kid Facundo Buonanotte". BBC Sport. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  7. ^ "More Mitoma magic as Albion leave it late". Brighton & Hove Albion. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  8. ^ "It's magic from Mitoma as Albion beat Liverpool again". Brighton & Hove Albion. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Irresistible Albion hand out another Hammers blow". Brighton & Hove Albion. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Albion felled by Forest". Brighton & Hove Albion. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Leicester City loan Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton". Leicester City. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  12. ^ Josh Holland (20 August 2024). "Facundo Buonanotte answers Leicester City doubt in debut but transfer concern clear". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  13. ^ Matthew Howarth (31 August 2024). "Leicester City 1-2 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Facundo Buonanotte, la joyita de las inferiores Canallas: "El Kily me dijo que quería contar conmigo"". RedBoing. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Convocados de la Sub 20 para el Torneo Maurice Revello" [Sub 20: all the information on the Maurice Revello Tournament]. afa.com.ar (in Spanish). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Lista oficial de convocados de la Selección Sub 20 para el Sudamericano". AFA (in Spanish). 6 January 2023. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Buonanotte named in Argentina senior squad". Brighton & Hove Albion. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Efecto Retegui: Italia ya apunta a más jóvenes argentinos para citar a la Azzurra | El DT Mancini tiene una lista de 16 jugadores que podrían ser seleccionados". PAGINA12. 30 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Games played by Facundo Buonanotte in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Games played by Facundo Buonanotte in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Games played by Facundo Buonanotte in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  22. ^ "Games played by Facundo Buonanotte in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 August 2024.