Leeds United: Willy Gnonto Elland Road exit in January may already be sealed after another stinker v West Brom
Leeds United attacker Willy Gnonto is now surely on his last legs at Elland Road after another stinking display against West Brom.
Grady Diangana’s goal saw West Brom move within three points of fourth-placed Leeds in the Championship with a 1-0 win over the Yorkshire side at The Hawthorns on Friday (29 December).
The DR Congo attack struck in the first half of a tight, breathless affair against a Leeds side who now have just one win in their past five games.
Daniel Farke switched to three at the back on the hour mark in a bid to prise open a determined and dogged Baggies defence but, despite a late siege, they could find no way through.
The defeat consigns Farke to his worst run as Leeds United boss with just one win in five games seeing them also miss the chance to close the gap to second-placed Ipswich Town in the Championship table.
Whatever the Whites’ latest setback can be put down to certainly isn’t definitive but there’s a number of factors that certainly contributed and that’s the surprise change before the game to replace Dan James for Gnonto on the right flank.
It may have been the last chance for the little Italian to prove his worth to Farke with so many rumours flying around regarding an inevitable Elland Road exit in January.
The Italian news outlet Il Romanista. shared on 29 December that the Whites are set to green-light Gnonto’s sale in January which suggests his fate is already sealed.
Gnonto asked to leave Leeds United last summer but no move materialised. However, in a fresh new twist, the Whites are set to sanction a sale in January.
It’s now reported that Gnonto is currently priced at 15 million euros (£13m) but it cannot be ruled out that Leeds United will be willing to sell for just £8.7m next month with Serie A outfits Lazio and Fiorentina currently on the hunt for his signature.
Former club Inter Milan are “out of the way” currently but are still monitoring Gnonto’s situation with the former FC Zurich wonderkid still a fan of the Serie A champions.
It certainly appears as if Gnonto still wants to leave Elland Road, especially now after his limited opportunities under Daniel Farke, making just seven starts in the Championship this season potentially derailing his chances to feature for his country at next summer’s Euros.
Despite these latest reports, it was certainly surprising to see Gnonto start at The Hawthorns but he completely failed the test with yet another stinker.
His last start in Leeds United colours was pretty dreadful and that game was also a defeat, a 1-0 loss to Stoke City in October.
As per SofaScore, Gnonto rarely touched the ball with just 38 touches throughout his 70 minutes on the pitch, failed to register a single key pass, failed 100% of his dribbles, won just four of his 11 ground duels at a disastrous 36% success rate, had a 0% success rate from his crosses and did not register a single shot on target, while losing possession 13 times.
It was a similar theme in Birmingham, with the Italian international failing to prove why he deserves to usurp James in Farke’s starting eleven.
As per SofaScore, Gnonto touched the ball just 30 times in his 60 minutes on the pitch, failing to register a single key pass again, completed just one of his dribble attempts at a success rate of 33 per cent, lost possession of the ball seven times and won four of his 11 ground duels.
Gnonto was also guilty of some dreadful finishing after finding himself in decent positions to trouble Alex Palmer in the West Brom goal but it certainly wasn’t to be for the 20-year-old in yet another miserable night.
With the January now just days away, it seems Leeds United are ready to call time on his career in West Yorkshire.
In other Leeds United news, one Sky Sports pundit was blown away by footage on a Whites ace out on loan.