Leeds United set to pay ‘exceptionally high’ fee upon Willy Gnonto transfer exit as club chief shares Premier League update
The percentage of Willy Gnonto’s transfer fee that Leeds United will have to pay FC Zurich if he leaves this summer is “exceptionally high” according to the club’s president.
Ancillo Canepa expects the Italian teenager to depart Elland Road during the upcoming transfer window because he believes the forward will want to remain in the Premier League.
Gnonto has been named as one of the players the Whites plan to keep despite relegation to the Championship [The Athletic, 1 June], but if he does go his former side are eyeing up a major windfall after his low-cost move last summer for a reported fee of £3.8million [Daily Mail, 1 September].
Blick report on Monday (5 June) that Canepa said: “I’m sure Willy wants to continue playing in the Premier League. That has some revenue potential. I’ve always said that the transfer meets our expectations.
“The first part was cash. The second part is a fairly sizeable stake in an onward transfer.”
Asked if the size percentage the Swiss side is due in any deal was “exceptionally high” he reportedly answered: “Yes!”
Keep him
Gnonto’s season certainly trailed off after the heights he reached during the winter, but how much of that is down to him is up for debate.
Opponents started to double up on him as his ability became clear, and at the time the rest of his Leeds United teammates weren’t offering enough in that area of the pitch to compensate.
Then, the arrival of Javi Gracia saw him suddenly dropped and he saw less and less action despite the fortunes of the team collapsing under the Spaniard.
At 19 that experience can hardly have been great for his confidence, but there is reason to believe that he could be a real threat in the second tier.
If he has to leave then one of the clubs mooted to be interested, either from England or Italy, are surely going to have to pay a free far larger than what he arrived for last September.
But if a sizeable chunk of that has to be sent directly to Zurich that is all the more reason to cling on to him.
Some of the higher-profile first-team players at Elland Road will have to go to provide a financial cushion amid the loss of Premier League money, and absent this clause in the agreement Gnonto would likely be a prime candidate to make a profit on.
But as it appears the benefit of a big-money sale will be as much to another club as the Whites they should aim to put the youngster front and centre in the side for the new season.
In other Leeds United news, two key Sam Allardyce operators are set to learn their Elland Road future this week.