Leeds United star Willy Gnonto appears to laugh off 'unhappy' claim as Daniel Farke clarifies stance — YEP 10/11/23
By Ben McKenna
Leeds United forward Willy Gnonto has appeared to laugh off
claims he is unhappy at Elland Road. Reports earlier this week claimed the
Italian international was not satisfied with the amount of minutes he is
currently getting at Leeds but the 20-year-old has put those suggestions to
bed.
Responding on Instagram to the report that he was unhappy,
Gnonto commented with a single laughing emoji - suggesting the claims made were
wide of the mark. The player had tried to force a move away from Leeds in the
summer and even handed in a transfer request.
However, Leeds boss Daniel Farke revealed the forward came
to him and apologised for his actions, resulting in his reintegration into the
squad. Farke said at the end of August: "At the beginning of the week he
came to see me and explained his situation and he apologised that he had made a
mistake. He asked if he could be involved in team training and he is 100 per
cent ready. My decision was to give him a second chance and if he impresses in
training he will earn a spot in the squad. I'm always open to give a young
player a second chance, but he knows that there is no third chance. The ball is
in his court now."
The forward scored in the 4-3 win at Ipswich Town a few days
after those comments and has one assist to his name this term, which came in
the 3-2 win at Norwich City. Gnonto was injured in a 0-0 draw at Hull City in
September and missed four Championship games as a result. He has appeared in
all of the Whites' last four league outings, however, starting once and coming
off the bench in the other three fixtures.
Recent unconfirmed reports suggested Serie A clubs were
purportedly interested in bringing Gnonto back to Italy. Farke was questioned
on Gnonto's future in his press conference ahead of Saturday's home clash with
Plymouth Argyle but insisted his stance on that matter was to not talk about
the futures of individual players.
He said on Thursday: "I am not tempted too much to
speak about the future of individual players because we had this discussion and
I had to have these discussions more or less since I arrived in the first two
and a half months."
