Alejandro Garnacho shows true colours with classy Chelsea message for deadline day signing

Alejandro Garnacho has welcomed Facundo Buonanotte to Chelsea with a classy message on social media. The 20-year-old winger joined the Blues on loan from Brighton on deadline day as Enzo Maresca raced to bolster his attacking options.

football.london understands that Chelsea paid the Seagulls £2m for Buonanotte’s services. The Argentina international was heavily linked with a move to Leeds United until the Club World Cup champions swooped in and secure his signature.

It’s understood that Chelsea were interested in signing Xavi Simons, but they chose not to submit an official bid to RB Leipzig. The west Londoners also weighed up a move for Fermin Lopez, but Hansi Flick was determined to keep the Barcelona maestro at the Camp Nou.

So, Chelsea turned their attention to Buonanotte, whose deal does not include an option to buy clause. The Blues announced the forward’s move to Stamford Bridge on Monday afternoon, and Garnacho was quick to give him a warm welcome.

Showing his true colours, the former Manchester United star sent Buonanotte a classy message on social media. Garnacho uploaded a picture of himself alongside his fellow countryman from their time together with the national team, with two blue heart emojis.

Maresca will hope Enzo Fernandez and Garnacho help Buonanotte find his feet in west London. Speaking the club website upon his arrival at Chelsea, the Brighton loanee discussed the challenges he faced growing up in Rosario, Argentina.

“Rosario is a football-first city,” said Buonanotte. “I’m very proud to have my roots in Rosario, and people live for football there. A lot of great footballers have come from Rosario, including the best player in the world – in my opinion – Lionel Messi.

“He is obviously my idol. He’s an inspiration for me and everyone from Rosario. I have always enjoyed watching him and even got to play with him in the national team.”

Buonanotte added: “It was a bit of a shock when I first moved to the UK. It was difficult moving at the start. It was a different culture, a different language and different weather.

“I remember landing here, and at 5pm it was all dark, places were closed, and when I wanted to get a coffee after training, I had no idea where to go. It’s a very different culture here.

“Thankfully, when I joined Brighton, there were a lot of South American players and Spanish-speaking staff, and they helped me to settle and to know what I needed to do. I’m very grateful for their help.

“I’ve been in the UK for three years now, so I’m really happy. I like English football, I’m very happy to be here, I’m really settled and ready for this next challenge.”