Leeds United promise to Willy Gnonto speculated after Elland Road U-turn
Leeds United will have promised Willy Gnonto he is now the main man at the club after convincing him to sign a new contract, David Norris has said.
The Italian international last week signed a new four-year deal at Elland Road following the closure of the transfer window, with Daniel Farke managing to keep hold of a player who has started the season brightly.
Gnonto, 20, refused to play at the beginning of last term to force through a move which never came – and over the summer he has had to watch Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville and Archie Gray all depart for the Premier League in lucrative moves.
Speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, former Whites midfielder Norris says the contract is an incentive to keep him onside and that he should be moulded into the main man: “I believe the new deal straight after the deadline is to keep him onside, as obviously he didn’t get his move.
“I think now they are telling him he can be the main man, and I’m sure they can get the very best out of him now. It seems different to last year, I think his attitude has progressed, and it keeps his mindset in the game.
“Maybe the club wouldn’t have fully trusted him to keep his head in the right place if they had left his contract situation as it was, based on his behaviour in the past.”
Leeds United tie down Wilfried Gnonto
Whatever the motive behind the new contract has been, Leeds United have indeed extended Gnonto’s deal to four years on improved terms, a massive boost.
Norris is likely right – the 20-year-old would not have turned his nose up at a Premier League switch had it been offered, but now at this fledgling phase of a very promising career, he has the chance to be the talisman at arguably the biggest club outside the Premier League.
That is an opportunity Gnonto should relish. Thanks to times gone by when he was, frankly, a badly advised teenager, he has had to since rebuild his trust from the fanbase.
And they are immensely happy to see him not just remaining in a white shirt past 30 August, but penning the new deal and wearing the Leeds badge with a smile on his face.
Interest will never completely fade out in Gnonto – he is too good of a player. But if the club ensure they survive the inevitable resurfacing of enquiries in the forward throughout January, hopeful promotion should enable them to have a far more controlling stance.
In other Leeds news, Dan James gives an injury update.
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