Andrea Radrizzani hails crisis saviour Willy Gnonto prior to Leeds United FA Cup clash with Fulham
Willy Gnonto is an “exceptional boy” with an “open mind” according to Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, who has heaped praise on his compatriot.
The teenager arrived on the summer transfer window’s deadline day with the Whites in the middle of a “crisis” after Bamba Dieng’s move collapsed, and has since established himself as one of the stars at Elland Road.
Radrizzani has expressed his relief that an agreement could be found so late in the day with FC Zurich to solve that crisis, and his love for the youngster who has since made 15 appearances for Leeds United while scoring four goals.
Radrizzani told DAZN of the deadline day scramble, as per Tutto Mercato Web: “We anticipated the arrival of Gnonto which was only foreseen in January. Thank God, I’m very proud of him…
“We either wanted to sign him in January or in any case in February for June. Then the crisis of the last few days on the market made us anticipate, we found an agreement with Zurich.
“Then he did it after the visits… I love him, he’s Italian he is an exceptional boy. It is difficult to find a 19-year-old Italian who speaks four languages very well and has such an open mind”.
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It was a mark of how quickly the youngster has developed into a key man in this Leeds squad that it was a surprise for Javi Gracia to take him off first against Aston Villa at the weekend.
His slated January arrival as an under-21s prospect was scrapped thanks to the bungled pursuit of Dieng, but the Italian international has grabbed the opportunity and hasn’t stopped running with it yet.
He starts again in the FA Cup at Fulham Tuesday night (28 February) and if recent weeks are anything to go by he will remain the Whites’ most threatening avenue in attack.
It is no wonder that Radrizzani feels so positive about Gnonto, as without him the few positive results that have been secured this season would be even more sparse.
The end of the summer window was the kind of debacle that the managerial changeover proved to be, and it appears that in both cases the club might have ended up landing on their feet despite the chaos.
Numerous attacking options were pursued in the final hours of that window but all were unsuccessful, so the club were forced to bring forward Gnonto’s move as a solution that was better than nothing, and he is since proved to be more effective than ever expected.
Similarly, having missed out on a whole host of managerial candidates the belated appointment of Gracia has received almost universal approval, and he duly delivered a first win since 5 November in his first game.
Radrizzani is far from the most popular man among the supporters of late, but it would likely be all the more so if it wasn’t for Gnonto’s emergence, and all will have to hope Gracia can be a similar hit.
In other Leeds United news, one Whites player did something “crazy” at the weekend that “stunned” BBC reporter Adam Pope.
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