Facundo Valentín Buonanotte (born 23 December 2004) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

or winger for club Leicester City, on loan from 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 An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 11 February 2022. In a Copa Argentina penalty shootout win over

Sol de Mayo The Sun of May () is a national emblem of Argentina and Uruguay, and appears on the flags of both countries. __TOC__ History According to Diego Abad de Santillán, the Sun of May represents Inti, the Incan god of the sun. The specification ...

on 13 May 2022, he scored the game-winning penalty. The next day, on 14 May 2022, he signed his first professional contract with Rosario Central. He scored his first senior goal in a 1–0

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

win over

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on 8 July 2022.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 1 January 2023, Buonanotte joined the academy of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Brighton & Hove Albion for an estimated fee of £5.3m, with an additional £5.3m dependent on objectives being met. He made his debut for the "Seagulls" on 4 February, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute replacing

Tariq Lamptey Tariq Kwame Nii-Lante Lamptey (born 30 September 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a right wing-back or right-back for club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Ghana national team. Previously a youth international for England, Lampt ...

as Brighton went on to beat

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

with a 87th-minute

Kaoru Mitoma is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Japan national team. Club career Early years Born in Kanagawa, Mitoma grew up in the Kawasaki area and joined the Frontale aca ...

goal. Buonanotte made his first start for Brighton on 28 February, playing 69 minutes of the 1–0 away win over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

of the Championship with Brighton advancing to the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

quarter-finals. 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. 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 Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Loan to Leicester City

On 10 August 2024, Buonanotte went on loan to fellow Premier League club Leicester City for the 2024–25 season.

International career

Buonanotte was called up to the

Argentina national under-20 football team The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record si ...

for the

2022 Maurice Revello Tournament The 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament (officially french: 48ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello), was the 48th edition of the Maurice Revello Tournament, an annual, international, age-restricted football tournament, wh ...

in France. In January 2023, he was once again called up to the national under-20 football team ahead of the 2023 South American Championship. On 3 March 2023 he received his first call-up for the Argentina senior squad for friendly matches against

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and Curacao. He made his senior debut on 19 June in a 2–0 win away to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Facundo Buonanotte
at Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buonanotte, Facundo 2004 births Living people Footballers from Santa Fe Province Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Men's association football midfielders Rosario Central footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Premier League players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England