Willy or Won’ty? - The Square Ball 7/9/22

TINY EARS

Written by: Patrick Gunn

After Angus Kinnear’s confidence in his Everton programme notes that Leeds would see out the summer transfer window by “reflect[ing] on how well we have executed our trading strategy”, came the plane-hopping, mad-tweeting reality. All of a sudden, Leeds were faced with three problems.

One, thanks to Cody Gakpo and Bamba Dieng, Leeds were left red-faced by two deals in two days — not exactly great for club image. Two, by going for Dieng, they were publicly admitting something they’d tried to cover for weeks — Jesse Marsch needed a striker. Three, for whatever reason, the club was adopting a ‘one in, one out’ policy. Dan James, the ‘one out’, was at Fulham, waiting for his loan deal to be confirmed. But Dieng wasn’t coming. Leeds needed the ‘one in’, and fast.

As late as late can get, a call went out to Zürich, and to sighs of relief in the boardroom at Elland Road, Wilfried Gnonto was announced as Leeds’ final signing of the summer window.

His name came up midway through the summer, but was downplayed by the media and even Marsch himself. Gnonto was “one for the future”, not someone Leeds felt they had to act on right now. Clearly, given how the rest of deadline day went, the need for a striker of any kind became something the club couldn’t ignore. But who is Wilfried Gnonto? How does he play? And, most importantly, can we really expect to see much of him this season? As TSB’s resident Swiss resident, hopefully I can help.

Who is he?

Born November 5th (insert ‘expect fireworks’ joke here) in the Piedmont region of Italy, not too far from the Swiss border, Wilfried Gnonto grew up surrounded by the majesty of Lago Maggiore. The son of Ivorian parents, he showed early promise as a footballer (signed by Inter Milan’s academy at just nine years old), but also attended the local ‘scientific’ secondary school, which prepares students for higher education in the Italian system.

University had to wait, however, as Gnonto was picked up by Swiss Super League outfit FC Zürich in 2020. Still just 16, Gnonto played only three times for Zürich’s second team, scoring twice, before being called up to the first team. He only scored once that season, but featured 26 times for FCZ — an impressive haul for such a young player. The following season, as Zürich captured their first Swiss title since 2009, Gnonto’s reputation was cemented. With ten goals and five assists in all competitions, the young forward became integral to Zürich’s system. His pace and power were often too much to deal with for Swiss defences, which opened up opportunities either for him or his supporting cast of Assan Ceesay, Antonio Marchesano, and others. His form for Zürich was so impressive that his Championship season ended with a first call up to the Italy squad. That was crowned with a goal and assist in his first two games for the national side. Not a bad way to start your international career.

Gnonto’s former coach, André Breitenreiter, who won the title with him at FCZ, described him as “every mother-in-law’s heartthrob” in a recent interview, adding that he was a “great guy” who “scores goals and sells kits… what more could you want?”

How does he play?

Quickly.

Gnonto is, for lack of a better word, rapid. His short stature and low centre of gravity give him immense release speed, while making him hard to push off the ball. His ball control at high speed is impressive, and worries even the most experienced defenders in a one-on-one situation. In a manner similar to Luis Sinisterra, Gnonto will regularly receive the ball deep with his back to goal, spin his marker, then drive forward into the space created by his movement. His ability to adapt and slip into various spots in the forward line helped create huge amounts of space for Breitenreiter’s Zürich against sides that were harder to break down, while his pace kept the more offensive teams nervous about committing too many forward. As illustrated by his goal for Italy against Germany back in June, Gnonto is just as capable inside the box as out. If necessary, he can poach as well as he can provide, slipping unnoticed into areas where defenders don’t enjoy seeing an opposing striker.

🇮🇹 Wilfried Gnonto 💫

The ______ from Italy 🕺#NationsLeague | @Azzurri_En pic.twitter.com/ih15cArhdS

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 16, 2022

Under new coach Franco Foda, however, both Gnonto and Zürich have struggled. Foda, the former Austria coach, is known for his pragmatic, defensive style, and Gnonto was clearly being asked to fill a much more singular role in his side. No more dropping deep, no more roaming around the front lines; Foda needed his striker to be a striker, and nothing else. With those restrictions in place, and Gnonto’s size limiting his ability to lead the line, it’s no massive surprise that he has only managed a solitary goal this season, against David Healy’s Linfield in the Europa League qualifiers. It’s also no massive surprise, given their dramatic drop in form, that Gnonto was unwilling to sign a new deal with the club this year. That probably helped Leeds capture his signature for such a small fee, considering the potential heights still to be hit in the next decade and more.

Will we see him soon?

Now we get to the unfortunate elephant in the room. For all of Gnonto’s quality, for all his potential, for all the attention thrust upon him on his deadline day move, will we actually see much of him in a Leeds shirt this season?

There’s an argument for saying yes. After all, he’s a full Italy international with a goal to his name, and is quickly approaching almost 100 appearances at first-team level. He was far from a bit-part player in Zürich’s title win, and was trusted by their new coach to spearhead their defence of the title this season. He can play in multiple attacking positions, which should fit Marsch’s system well, giving Jesse even more to work with either up top or just behind the striker. Despite the poor start Zürich have made, is it realistic that Gnonto would leave them a year before his contract expired to play in the Leeds U21 side for the foreseeable future, battling it out with Mateo Joseph and Sonny Perkins for a starting spot? It’s hard to imagine someone with the obvious drive and desire that Gnonto possesses giving up his leading role at FCZ for a period waiting in the wings at Leeds.

And yet, while I’m excited about Gnonto making the step up to the Premier League, I just can’t envisage much time for Willy this season. While the Swiss system has its strengths, and can point to a long list of talents who were developed amid the Alps, it is undeniably well below the weekly quality of the Premier League. No team in Switzerland, even its more successful outfits, have the tactical consistency of a top level side in England. Defences are easier to breach, individual errors are more common, and goalkeepers are (on the whole) of a much lower level. Then we have to take into account the increase in sheer physicality. Gnonto may have found it easy to outmuscle and shake off his opponents in the Super League, but that may prove more difficult when Wolves, Everton or Brentford are settling into their banks of eight on the edge of the box. If Gnonto has really been signed as an option to challenge Bamford, Gelhardt and Rodrigo (when fit) for the striker’s role, it’s hard to imagine him finding it an easy task.

In his interview at the weekend, Marsch admitted that Gnonto signing was not the plan for this summer. He had initially expected Leeds to leave the youngster at Zürich for “one or two more windows” before going back in for him. Obviously this process was accelerated by the deals that fell through on Thursday, and now Marsch finds himself with a ‘proven international’ (as Angus Kinnear would put it) striker who, it seems, expects to be part of his matchday squads.

The hope is that Willy Gnonto finds his feet quickly and forces his way into Marsch’s selection headaches soon. The reality is that he, and we, may need a little patience.