Wilfried Gnonto ‘will say goodbye’ to Leeds United after Everton agree £38.5m deadline day deal
Wilfried Gnonto is set to leave Leeds United and join Everton in a deal worth £38.5m on deadline day, according to SportMediaset.
Writing on their official website (1 September), the Italian news outlet report that a deal for the 19-year-old winger is “all done” between the two clubs.
Gnonto will now say his goodbyes to the Elland Road club before sealing a move which represents the end of the longest-running saga of the summer for the Whites.
“Wilfried Gnonto will say goodbye to Leeds, who finished in the English Championship, on the last day of the transfer window,” they wrote.
“All done with Everton for around 45 million euros (£38.5m).”
Crazy
Well, this escalated quickly.
Most Leeds fans were under the impression that Gnonto’s exit was a thing of the past after he refused to play, then apologised and came back into the squad with a goal against Ipswich.
He had seemingly accepted the club’s decision that he wasn’t for sale, but Everton have come back into the mix and now a deal is said to be “all done”, despite Daniel Farke’s comments that he didn’t expect any exits before the deadline.
From a business point of view the deal makes perfect sense. We signed him for just £5m a year ago and now are selling him for £38.5m after relegation, which would represent our biggest sale of the summer by a distance.
But after working so hard to keep him all this time, it now seems we’ll lose him without having the time to bring in a replacement which will hurt Farke.
In other Leeds news, one big-money star could leave after the deadline passes at 11pm.