Deal close: Phil Hay shares what he’s heard on Gnonto’s Leeds contract
Up until now, one Leeds player’s future was questionable.
Wilfried Gnonto only moved to Leeds from FC Zurich in the summer of 2022, but since the Whites were eliminated from the Premier League at the end of the previous campaign, his future has been in doubt.
The penultimate attempt to sign him from Everton was valued at £25.7 million. However, Daniel Farke’s team maintained their £30 million estimate, and the Toffees declined to meet it. Everton defeated Leeds in the battle for survival. In the midst of all of this, Gnonto filed a transfer request and withdrew from consideration; nevertheless, upon being turned down for a transfer, he repaired the bridge by expressing regret to Farke.
With just 25 of Leeds’ 28 Championship games played thus far, the Italian has had to settle for a bit-part role at Elland Road this season. Thus, there appeared to be a good likelihood that he would pursue a move once more as we approached the New Year.
As for Leeds, they intend to sign him to a long-term deal if he is open to it, and there has been some encouraging progress in that regard recently.
Leeds close to Gnonto breakthrough
Phil Hay of The Athletic reports that Gnonto may now agree to a new contract at Elland Road. Despite the fact that the forward’s current deal has three and a half years left on it, Leeds is “looking to finalise” an arrangement with him following some fruitful conversations.
Hay states in an attached story for The Athletic that a deal is near, meaning an inside breakthrough rather than an outside transfer might be one of the major success stories of the January window.
Leeds has the right to show patience with Golden Boy nominee Gnonto
Leeds should greatly benefit from this, as Gnonto is still a very promising long-term player. In fact, despite the recent turmoil, we must remember that he is only 20 years old. With four goals and four assists in his debut season at Elland Road, Gnonto displayed glimpses of immense potential. Most famously, he became the youngest foreign player to score a Premier League goal at Old Trafford when he scored the first goal in the first minute of a 2-2 draw at Manchester United.
Even though he only has one goal and one assist, it’s difficult to hold him too badly considering the distractions he had to deal with as a young player, his lack of playing time, and the resulting lack of rhythm.
Gnonto has further demonstrated his ability on the international scene by making history as Italy’s youngest striker in a 2022 loss to Germany, in addition to scoring five goals in five games for the under-21 team and earning 13 caps for the senior team.
His actions that season won him a spot in the final 20 for the Golden Boy award, which is presented to the greatest under-21 player in elite European football. He also scored 10 goals and made five assists in 36 games for Zurich. Other notable names on the shortlist were Pedri, Jamal Musiala, and Jude Bellingham.
In light of this, Gnonto might still end up being a tremendous value for just £3.8 million as he gets ready to commit to Leeds for the long run.