Peacemaker contract update shared amid uncertain Willy Gnonto future at Leeds United
Leeds United handing a peacemaker contract to Everton target Willy Gnonto cannot be ruled out even though he might leave next summer, according to Ben Jacobs.
The CBS Sports journalist told Give Me Sport that Leeds will not be sanctioning the Italian’s exit in the January transfer window.
A new contract may also not necessarily mean that he stays beyond next summer as it will be contingent on where Leeds are and if the Toffees, or any other club are playing in the Premier League or an equivalent top-flight league.
Jacobs said, “What we’ll have to do is wait and see whether, at the end of the season, there’s a change in Leeds’ position. And that will obviously be circumstantial, so it’s far too early to say because next summer, if Leeds are back in the Premier League, then Wilfried Gnonto may just want to stay.
“The other thing in all of this is obviously whether, at any point going forwards, improved terms that are offered to Gnonto. Sometimes when a player stays at a club, but was about to leave, or wanted to leave anyway, you sort of almost get a peacemaker contract offered. We saw it with Moises Caicedo, even though he eventually left, and that contract really doesn’t mean much.
“By the summer, it will all simply depend on whether Leeds go up of stay in the Championship. If they stay in the Championship, I think they’ll let Gnonto leave. But if they go back up into the Premier League, he may not want to leave and like I said before, if Everton is still the primary suitor, we also have to understand where they are to.”
Fair enough
If Gnonto is willing to give Leeds his all for one more season and then assess the situation at the end of the season, then fair play.
He stood by the club after he did not get his way and deserves a pay raise for that.
If Leeds get promoted, he’ll undoubtedly have played a role in that and he would want to stay put at Elland Road.
That’s obviously unless he’s faced with the sort of situation that Raphinha or Kalvin Phillips did when those clubs were too good to turn down.
Right now, he’s injured but when fit, he offers something else altogether in the final third and it’s good to see such healthy competition for places in the final third.
If Leeds continue this free-flowing brand of football then nothing will be stopping them from getting back into the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay claims that big European clubs have been keeping tabs on a Whites player for a while and are still willing to sign him.