Credit: Imago

Jacob Raw

Mon 9 March 2026 8:10, UK

Wilfried Gnonto was handed a rare start during Leeds United‘s 3-0 FA Cup win over Norwich City on Sunday.

Leeds cruised to victory at Elland Road against Daniel Farke’s old side, courtesy of goals from Sean Longstaff, Gabriel Gudmundsson, and Joel Piroe.

The Whites shuffled things up, and some players who have not had many opportunities to shine were given the perfect platform to impress against a Championship opponent.

Gnonto could leave Leeds in the summer, and his chance against Norwich was a huge one to win over Farke’s trust.

Wilfried Gnonto failed to inspire vs Norwich City; his sale looks inevitable

Gnonto hasn’t had the game time at Leeds that he will have wanted heading into the season, especially coming off the back of an impressive Championship campaign, and as a result, was tipped for a move this winter.

The Italian has been a victim of a formation change of late, which has seen the Whites utilise their wingers in different ways, which hasn’t helped his playing chances.

Not only that, but before Farke switched to a five-at-the-back formation, the forward’s game time in LS11 was already decreasing.

• Gnonto has started in four league games for the Whites
• He has managed just 380 minutes in the Premier League

As highlighted in the graphic below, Gnonto was given a poor 6.6 Sofascore rating, which would have been even more unimpressive had his teammates not recorded an emphatic win.

He had a few scoring opportunities but never took them, and didn’t do anywhere near enough creatively to demand a starting spot.

For now, his future looks to be on Farke’s bench, before an inevitable sale to raise funds for replacements in the summer.

Sebastiaan Bornauw was hung out to dry by Daniel Farke

Sebastiaan Bornauw is another Leeds man who has struggled for a chance at Elland Road this season.

While it can be argued that there are clearly better defenders in front of the Belgian, he wasn’t given any favours despite a start versus Norwich.

The natural centre-back was shifted out to right-back from the start against the Canaries, and was then hooked at halftime.

It was a rather bizarre move for Farke to make in the beginning, as there’s surely no way that he expected a centre-half to perform in a fairly foreign position.

Like Gnonto but for different reasons, Bornauw also looks like he could be headed for an Elland Road exit in a couple of months, unless he is prepared to take a definite backseat next season.