Leeds United news as Wilfried Gnonto stuns pundit live on Sky Sports
Sky Sports pundit Sue Smith has said that Leeds United winger Wilfried Gnonto has the potential to be the best player in the Championship.
The Whites get their Championship season up and running on Sunday (6 August) when they face Cardiff City at Elland Road and Gnonto is likely to line up for the first time in the English second tier.
Ahead of the first round of EFL fixtures, Smith pointed out that the Italian winger is one to keep an eye on throughout the upcoming season, but that interest from clubs higher up the football pyramid could be a worry.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday [5 August, 2:12 pm] she said: “Leeds are definitely one of the favourites to go straight back up, they have some really talented players. If they can keep hold of the likes of Gnonto I think he could not only be one of Leeds’ best players, but one of the best players in the Championship itself.
“I think the problem is the transfer window is still open and that’s the worry of a lot of sides, that is the concern and I think the difficulty for managers that you don’t know what your squads going to be.”
All eyes are on Leeds
One thing is for sure this season at Elland Road and that is that the Whites have nowhere to hide heading into the new campaign. Many pundits and fans see them as having a squad that is more than equipped to take the Championship by storm and likely return to the Premier League.
The same is true of Gnonto, last season saw him breakthrough through most fans’ thoughts as he impressed despite Leeds’ struggles having made the move from Zurich in the summer, but now impressing in flashes will no longer be enough.
If he remains with the Whites, the expectation will be for him to take the division by storm and improve his final product in a side that should be fighting towards the top half of the table and anything else will lead to criticism as it will be viewed as a failure.
What does appear more likely is that his future will lie away from Elland Road, with Everton one of the clubs chasing his signature and if he does fly out of the blocks a move away from Yorkshire will only become more probable, whether before the end of August or in January.
In other Leeds United news, former assistant Karl Robinson has dubbed Liam Cooper a ‘proper man’ after his actions following the Whites’ relegation