What now for Facundo Buonanotte after van Nistelrooy's 'disappointing' admission and winger list
Ruud van Nistelrooy has backed Facundo Buonanotte to play an important part in Leicester City’s relegation fight despite admitting to disappointment that the loanee wasn’t strengthening his team.
City’s leading outfield performer under Steve Cooper, Buonanotte has had a downturn in form since van Nistelrooy took charge and has featured less often. He’s started just three of City’s last 12 matches and didn’t even get off the bench in their last Premier League outing.
Van Nistelrooy hinted at frustration over Buonanotte’s lack of impact when assessing the club’s January transfer window. City could not loan in any players from their Premier League rivals in the winter market because they have Buonanotte and Odsonne Edouard filling their two permitted spots, and the Dutchman suggested neither were doing enough to benefit the team.
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Speaking last week, van Nistelrooy said: “The loans from England were blocked because we already have two Premier League loans. The disappointing thing in that sense is that the two loans are not making those minutes that you want and strengthening the team in that sense.”
There were reports that Buonanotte would have been happy to return to Brighton in January and find a new loan club. But that would not have been possible without the Seagulls paying to cancel the deal with City, with the Argentinian meeting a required number of minutes in the first half of the season to rule out a recall.
Buonanotte’s cause has not been helped by the rise of Bilal El Khannouss, who has been City’s best player under van Nistelrooy, the Moroccan excelling in the number 10 role. While Buonanotte has done well when he’s started, as in the matches against Man City and QPR, his chances have perhaps been harmed by his lack of impact as a substitute in recent games.
For van Nistelrooy, it’s a matter of a lack of consistency, something he believes is inevitable for a 20-year-old. He insists that he’s not given up on the attacking midfielder.
Asked if he wanted to see something more from Buonanotte, van Nistelrooy said: “He’s a young player. It’s normal. If you speak about consistency and age, young players have ups and downs.
“We’re helping all of our players, especially the young ones, through those phases. The quality is there for Facundo. I believe strongly in his qualities, and he can and will be important for us in the coming months.”
Where he will feature is debatable though. When discussing Kasey McAteer’s future amid transfer interest in the academy graduate, van Nistelrooy listed his four wingers as McAteer, Stephy Mavididi, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, and Jordan Ayew, with no reference to Buonanotte, despite his last three starts coming on the right of the three behind Jamie Vardy.
That poses a problem for the Argentinian as he will struggle to oust El Khannouss from the number 10 spot. At Manchester United last Friday, Buonanotte came on for Patson Daka and played as a false nine.
