Graham Smyth has given his defence of Facundo Buonanotte, who is finally a Leeds player after rejecting the club in the summer.

Leeds United fans should be forgiving of Facundo Buonanotte as he finally begins his career as a Leeds United player following a failed summer move.

That’s according to YEP’s Graham Smyth, who has been discussing the Argentine after Leeds completed a loan deal for his services from Brighton.

Buonanotte looked set to join the Whites in the summer, only to see Chelsea steal in at the last second. However, the attacking midfielder’s time at Stamford Bridge was anything but a success, clocking up just 518 minutes over eight appearances across all competitions - with only one of those outings coming in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, Buonanotte was still able to show glimpses of his considerable potential, with the 21-year-old registering a goal and an assist in the EFL Cup, and another assist in the FA Cup.

Facundo Buonanotte eyeing World Cup spot after Leeds move

Buonanotte’s loan with Chelsea has now come to an end, with Leeds finally getting him into a white jersey. United have also signed the playmaker on loan until the end of the season, with Daniel Farke hoping he can offer a creative spark to his side either from the wing or through the middle as a No.10.

“First, I want to help Leeds. I need to do a good job here. And then, of course, if I have a chance to go to the World Cup, obviously I want to go,” the ambitious midfielder said upon becoming a Leeds player.

Describing his style of play, he added: “I like to play on the line, score goals and play assists. I like to be between the lines and, of course, score. I want to show the fans my quality and how I can help the team stay in the Premier League.”

Graham Smyth makes the case for Facundo Buonanotte

There will be those among the Leeds fanbase questioning the signing of Buonanotte, given how close he came to joining the club before u-turning to sign for Chelsea.

However, Smyth has revealed the thought process behind Leeds making the move, and believes the youngster deserves the benefit of the doubt given just how tantalising the opportunity at Stamford Bridge was.

“So around Christmas time, Leeds started to discuss internally the idea of revisiting this one,” Smyth told the Inside Elland Road podcast.

“I think they decided quite early, yes, we can stomach what happened in the summer, as long as we deal with it with the player. Daniel Farke was quite happy to give him another chance. The club hierarchy were in a very forgiving mood. So talks began. The very first conversation that was had, they dealt with what happened in the summer and got it out of the way.”

On why Buonanotte deserves the chance to prove himself to the Elland Road faithful, Smyth continued: “I think there are people who will never forgive a player for turning down Leeds, and they will forever liken him to a furry rodent. But what you have to keep in mind is this lad has only just turned 21.

“The club world champions came in for him. And they will have made some sort of presentation that will have included Champions League football. Now, if you’re him, that’s a very exciting prospect. You’re going to play in one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, with some of the best players, under a very good manager, in the Champions League, and potentially fighting for honours.

“I think for the rest of us looking on from the outside, we would have looked at that and thought ‘hang on a minute, son, are you actually going to play there?’

“He might not have seen that, because players and managers are all alike. We look at a vacancy and think ‘god, you don’t want to go in there’, and umteen managers will look at it and go ‘I am the man, I can fix them, I can do this’. Players will look at a club like Chelsea and think ‘I can do it, I’m good enough to get in there’. They back themselves and they have a little bit of ego about them.

“I don’t think that’s a massive crime. I think Leeds were messed around a little bit with this one, but I think there have been worse cases of treachery even in the recent past at Elland Road that you can draw on. So, it’s down to him really to win over the people who will remain critics and will remain in the ‘no’ camp.

“But I think there are quite a few people that look at this and say ‘this is what we needed. This is what we were all banging on about in the summer’. A right wing/10 blend, who can come inside and play, can take set-pieces, can pick angles and passes that maybe others in the squad can’t right now. A little bit of that creativity and flair in the final third... You’ve got a player who can get on the ball, maybe beat someone and find a pass, or just look up and find the right ball into the box. Play with angles, play decisive passes and cut defences open that way.

“It’s just another string to your bow in the Premier League, another weapon, and another option for Farke to change things. Other than the fact he’s not over 6ft, I think there’s everything to like about this one.”

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