2 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Less than 10 appearances across all competitions this season is my educated guess.

Not a chance! He is effectively 4th choice behind Palmer, Pedro & Enzo. Just a waste of a loan, and I reckon he was bundled up in the Enciso transfer to Strasbourg.

What pisses me off is we could have fastracked Reggie Walsh into the first team, Dowman & Nguomho has already made their PL debuts. Instead we signed someone else that can’t get into the Brighton team.

I want to see the positive in this loan and if he gets on the pitch i hope we will. However i dont understand why we are loaning a player with no option or obligation to buy. We dont do this type of deal. Its normally done by poor clubs, small clubs or lower league clubs.

If we make someone else's player shine and he goes back at the end of season what was the point? maybe Brighton offer us an opportunity to buy at a very high price, seems odd. Not our usual style.

3 hours ago, OneTommyLangley said:

I want to see the positive in this loan and if he gets on the pitch i hope we will. However i dont understand why we are loaning a player with no option or obligation to buy. We dont do this type of deal. Its normally done by poor clubs, small clubs or lower league clubs.

If we make someone else's player shine and he goes back at the end of season what was the point? maybe Brighton offer us an opportunity to buy at a very high price, seems odd. Not our usual style.

He is the emergency player. Kind of like smashing the glass to pickup the fire extinguisher. He is not in the CL squad because we know he will not play much for us. CC/FA and PL games in emergencies.

3 hours ago, markpitts said:

Not a chance! He is effectively 4th choice behind Palmer, Pedro & Enzo. Just a waste of a loan, and I reckon he was bundled up in the Enciso transfer to Strasbourg.

What pisses me off is we could have fastracked Reggie Walsh into the first team, Dowman & Nguomho has already made their PL debuts. Instead we signed someone else that can’t get into the Brighton team.

And that Enciso to Strasbourg stinks. They failed Enciso's medical and the board decided that they needed to rethink it and did a second medical that he, miraculously, passed. It's similar to how the mafia works.

Will laugh if he doesn’t even match KDH’s minutes.

1 hour ago, Clown Lake said:

He is the emergency player. Kind of like smashing the glass to pickup the fire extinguisher. He is not in the CL squad because we know he will not play much for us. CC/FA and PL games in emergencies.

None of the youth players could have become that emergency player? This signing was a waste of time. Even if he is an emergency player, he can't he be used in the Champions League if we do have an emergency, so what's the point?

1 hour ago, RMH said:

And that Enciso to Strasbourg stinks. They failed Enciso's medical and the board decided that they needed to rethink it and did a second medical that he, miraculously, passed. It's similar to how the mafia works.

You don’t need to pass a medical to get signed and if they feel the risks are worth it or manageable then they will still sign you even if you have a broken leg.

Nothing dodgy about it. I’m sure we were aware of Torres dodgy condition but still decided to go ahead with it.

3 hours ago, Remodez said:

You don’t need to pass a medical to get signed and if they feel the risks are worth it or manageable then they will still sign you even if you have a broken leg.

Nothing dodgy about it. I’m sure we were aware of Torres dodgy condition but still decided to go ahead with it.

You do need to pass a medical to be added to the clubs insurance policy.

1 hour ago, dkw said:

You do need to pass a medical to be added to the clubs insurance policy.

They can pass you even if you didn’t actually pass the medical.

You can turn up with a broken leg and if they deem it not a huge risk going forward you will get passed and signed.

Edited September 4, 2025Sep 4 by Remodez

3 minutes ago, Remodez said:

They can pass you even if you didn’t actually pass the medical.

I doubt an insurance company is going to cover a signing that fails s medical, and you camt play an uninsured player.

3 minutes ago, dkw said:

I doubt an insurance company is going to cover a signing that fails s medical, and you camt play an uninsured player.

A medical is just an assessment.

If a club wants to sign someone with a broken leg and add them to their policy they can. The pay out may be lower or whatever but they can still do it.

5 hours ago, dkw said:

I doubt an insurance company is going to cover a signing that fails s medical, and you camt play an uninsured player.

I don't think clubs are required to take out individual policies per player, their risk would be absorbed into the club policy as a whole no different to workers' compensation etc. I doubt very much that player medical data would be made available to insurance companies.

'Failing' is also highly subjective (eg Demba Ba, Loic Remy) as in most instances the assessment team just present a dossier to the management and they decide what to do - proceed, negotiate better fees etc.

Facundo this, Facundo that . . . . One grows so tired

2 hours ago, Scott said:

Facundo this, Facundo that . . . . One grows so tired

Facundo them all, Facundo them all,

United, West Ham, Liverpool,

We are the Chelsea and we are the best,

We are the Chelsea, Facundo the rest.

On 04/09/2025 at 10:51, OneTommyLangley said:

I want to see the positive in this loan and if he gets on the pitch i hope we will. However i dont understand why we are loaning a player with no option or obligation to buy. We dont do this type of deal. Its normally done by poor clubs, small clubs or lower league clubs.

If we make someone else's player shine and he goes back at the end of season what was the point? maybe Brighton offer us an opportunity to buy at a very high price, seems odd. Not our usual style.

Could be because we needed a stop gap for when Paez and Quenda come in next season.

I don't really know why people are bent out of shape about it, the guys a back up that cost £2m + £25k a week. From a Brighton point of view it makes less sense for them than it does for us.

5 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

From a Brighton point of view it makes less sense for them than it does for us.

Agreed. If he pulls up trees we have a free run at him, if not Brighton are stuck with him

Does he make the bench Saturday? He looks quite a tidy player from youtube, which I know is a terrible way to assess, but I’m feeling optimistic.

I was surprised to see Bounanotte in the starting XI, but having got the nod, I actually thought he was our best player in that first half. He showed energy, was tidy, tried to make things happen, and looked sharper than most of the others out there.

Which makes it all the more frustrating that he was the one hooked at half time. That’s on Maresca - he f’d it by starting him in the first place, and then compounded it by humiliating the lad with a half-time sub.

For a young player coming in for his first game, confidence is key, and this sort of management risks crushing it. If you’re going to start him, back him. If you don’t believe in him, don’t start him. Simple as that. Another baffling Maresca decision.

I thought he was good whenever he did get the ball, which for me was not often enough and not the in spaces where he could cause damage. He’s got very good ball control in tight spaces and wasn't dispossessed once.

Pretty much anything good we did in and around the box in the first half came from him, even if we did waste the chances in the end.

His link up with Pedro seems to be almost telepathic already, with a stronger team around him he would look a lot better.

Also surprisingly encouraged - a few good moves in the congested Brentford area. Might be good against low blocks, which he probably didn't come up against much last year... With returning players I'd assume his next real chance is Lincoln though.

On 14/09/2025 at 07:13, nonotnowjim said:

I was surprised to see Bounanotte in the starting XI, but having got the nod, I actually thought he was our best player in that first half. He showed energy, was tidy, tried to make things happen, and looked sharper than most of the others out there.

Which makes it all the more frustrating that he was the one hooked at half time. That’s on Maresca - he f’d it by starting him in the first place, and then compounded it by humiliating the lad with a half-time sub.

For a young player coming in for his first game, confidence is key, and this sort of management risks crushing it. If you’re going to start him, back him. If you don’t believe in him, don’t start him. Simple as that. Another baffling Maresca decision.

Completely agree. I thought he looked very tidy and was very good with his link up play and driving the ball forward. Gittens, I thought was a certainty to come off. Bounanotte was lively and was a slap in the face. I hope that was maybe pre-planned due to lack of minutes, because performance wise, he did not deserve to come off.

In the Champions League squad with Essugo now out for the season.

5 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

In the Champions League squad with Essugo now out for the season.

I am not disappointed that he is included but if this is the case, what is the purpose of the B List. What is that for?

Buonanotte managed six goals and three assists in 35 appearances last season as the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League.

Chelsea have several staff members who know the forward well from their time at Brighton, including co-sporting director Paul Winstanley and director of global recruitment Sam Jewell.

Ive a gut feeling Buonanotte will make more of an impact this season than Guiu or George.

If the SD's know their stuff they will restrict his exposure so that we can get him cheap in the summer.🙄

Edited September 16, 2025Sep 16 by OneTommyLangley