(Football news) Brighton are set to sign young Argentinian attacking midfielder Facundo Buonanotte in January. The 17-year-old just finished his first full season of top-flight football in Argentina, registering four goals and two assists in 34 games. Buonanotte has come through the famous youth academy at Rosario Central and only made his senior professional debut this February as he scored his first senior goal in July. Rosario Central is the same city where Lionel Messi was born and is subsequently managed by another Argentine legend Carlos Tevez, who has even gone on to make comparisons between Buonanotte and Messi.

The transfer is set to fianlised once the winter transfer window opens in January and then he will be subject to a work permit. Facundo Buonanotte is one of the jewels of Carlos Tevez's Rosario Central and ever since his debut he was very quickly scouted and wanted by all the big European clubs. But it looks like  Brighton and Hove Albion of the Premier League won the race and will sign Buonanotte. He will become the first signing of manager Roberto De Zerbi and according to Garcia Grova, the initial fee will be £5.3 million, with the possibility of a £5.3m in bonuses, which will depend on certain objectives being met. A 20 per cent sell-on clause for future transfers is also included in his contract.

Facundo Buonanotte was born on December 23, 2004 in Perez, which is a municipality within the Rosario Department in the province of Santa Fe. He was part of Rosario Central's youth academy up until the end of 2021 but earlier this year, during the summer, former Argentina star Kily Gonzalez and then head coach of Rosario called him up to train with the senior side and since then he has been a regular in the side. He has already played eight matches in the Auriazul jersey in the Copa de la Liga 2022 which include two matches in the Copa Argentina, and 13 in the current league season, in which he scored his only goal in a 1-0 victory over Sarmiento de Junin on July 8. He's also been called up several times for the Argentina Under-20 side a;so. 

Brighton’s technical director David Weir said: “Facundo is a player we have been aware of for some time, and we have been watching for a while. We are delighted we have now reached an agreement with Rosario, and we look forward to welcoming Facundo to Brighton in January next year.”

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