Being ditched by Bamba Dieng turned out to be a huge blessing for Leeds after they moved for Wilfried Gnonto instead. Gary Neville loves him and so does Johnny Nic.
‘What’s So Good About the Italy forward?’ you ask? Here’s John Nicholson…
Who’s this then?
Degnand Wilfried Gnonto is a 19-year-old, 5’8” Italian winger, currently playing for Leeds United. Born in Verbania, in Piedmont, in the northwest of Italy, put simply, he is one of the most exciting young players in Europe right now.
He played football as a wee boy for Baveno and Suno then in 2012, aged nine, he joined Inter Milan’s academy however, by the time he was 17, he was approached by Zurich who took him into their reserve team. However, he quickly shone, playing only three games for Zurich II before moving up into the first team. He made 74 appearances in just over two seasons and scored 12 times, winning their first championship title for 13 years. In that season he scored 10 and assisted in five goals which emitted enough stink of class into the football firmament for Leeds United to get up on their hind legs, sniff the air, and take out their wallet.
In September last year he signed a five-year deal with Leeds in return for just £3.8million with the Swiss side negotiating a 15% sell on. The fee was so low because Wilf was in the last year of his contract. Zurich had wanted £17million but relented as the end of the transfer window loomed into view. Given he is sooner than later going to become an extremely expensive player, that 15% will generate a chunky sum of money.
He made his international debut in June in the Nations League game against Germany, making the assist for Italy’s goal in a 1-1 draw. He scored in the return leg, a 5-2 away loss to Germany, to become the youngest goalscorer for Italy, aged 18 years and 222 days, breaking the previous record held by Bruno Nicole since 1958.
Why The Love?
So far, for Leeds, he’s scored four times in 13 appearances and on Wednesday night, netted in the first 56 seconds at Old Trafford.
As a right footer he usually plays on the left for Leeds, cutting in to shoot but in fact he’s played in seven different forward positions. On the right he can drive to the byline to cross. He’s actually scored most goals and played most games in his career as a second striker. So Leeds have got a very flexible player who can be shifted around the pitch and be effective pretty much anywhere in the front third.
Although Wiki says…
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