Real reason for new signing’s Champions League snub explained

So we will post the full answer from the excellent CareFreeYouth on Twitter which explains the logic of it all – it’s up to you to decide whether it makes sense. We have yet to see a better answer out there, so we’re happy to go with it for now:

“Chelsea signed Buonanotte on loan with the plan of adding him to our Champions League squad but things changed in the last days of the window. The thinking at the time was that [Tyrique] George might be sold, which would have brought in income and freed up space,” the Tweeter tweeted.

“When the deal was agreed, there was never any plan to recall Guiu into the first-team picture. But once Delap got injured, Chelsea had to bring Guiu back earlier than expected and register him in the squad.

“That, combined with George staying, meant the financial balance under UEFA’s rules became too tight. In short, the Delap injury, Guiu’s recall, and George not leaving all together meant we no longer had the headroom to also register Buonanotte without tipping over the limits.”

Chelsea’s attacking midfielder move backfires

So really it’s not a registration issue at all – it’s a financial one. As part of their settlement with UEFA this summer, Chelsea had to show a profit on the books from transfers this summer, with only players who featured in the Conference League counting towards it.

UEFA have now confirmed that they’ve managed that – but only just. Clearly Chelsea thought it was cutting it too fine to include Buonanotte too.

It’s a shame – the games against Pafos and Qarabag are the exact games he was signed to play, to give Cole Palmer a rest.