Leeds United coach breaks silence on Elland Road plan for deadline day transfer Willy Gnonto - YEP 15/9/22
Leeds United Under-21s head coach Michael Skubala held a press conference on Thursday morning ahead of his side’s PL2 encounter with Southampton this weekend
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United’s Premier League calendar has been thrown into
disarray with the postponement of senior fixtures versus Nottingham Forest and
Manchester United in consecutive weeks.
The passing of Queen Elizabeth II and her subsequent state
funeral mean United face a 29-day break between first-team games, however
during that time the club’s youngsters will continue to feature, a total of
three times in all.
Ahead of this weekend’s Premier League 2 encounter with
Southampton at Elland Road, Under-21s coach Michael Skubala has been speaking
to the media.
He revealed that deadline day signing Wilfried Gnonto will
be ‘in contention’ to feature against the Saints’ youngsters in front of what
could end up being 10,000 Leeds fans eager to get their first glimpse of the
Italy international.
"I'm really looking forward to working with Willy
Gnonto,” Skubala said. “He's come in, is a really good young man. He's a really
good character already to have around the building – the experiences that he
has already for such a young player, he’s quite an exciting player.
"He's one of those players that I hope the fans will
get behind and see the excitement that he can bring to Leeds United – and what
another good opportunity to have a young talent come into the club.”
Gnonto arrived on deadline day from Swiss side FC Zurich but
has already won the praise of Italy boss Roberto Mancini who handed him an
Azzurri debut earlier this year at the tender age of 18.
"He's obviously in contention for tomorrow with a lot
of other players. Interactions [with him] have been fantastic, he's come in
with his training like most players and he's trained hard, he's worked hard.
His English is good, which when you come from abroad, sometimes that takes a
bit of time, but his English is very good,” Skubala added.
"He's a very intelligent young man. He's obviously
played at a really top top level internationally. So yeah, he's another
exciting prospect and when you get more exciting prospects in the building
together, what an environment for all of these young players to develop because
it's competitive, it's challenging, it’s what you want.
"The more exciting your prospects you get together, the
better the programme is,” Skubala finished.
Leeds take on Southampton B at Elland Road on Friday
evening. Kick-off is at 7pm.
