Have Leeds United saved their best signing of the summer until after the transfer window shut? — Yorkshire Post 31/8/24

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By Stuart Rayner

Leeds United have waited until the morning after the transfer window to make perhaps their most important signing of the summer.

Forward Willy Gnonto has signed a new four-year deal which the Elland Road club are keen to stress has no release clauses.

Gnonto was a bargain £3.8m signing from Swiss side Zurich in the summer of 2022. The plan had been for him to sign in the next window, but Leeds' struggles to buy a centre-forward that season led it to be brought forward, even though with his diminutive stature he is not a natural No 9.

Gnonto has gone on to make 78 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals.

But the 20-year-old's importance has been amplified by the departures this summer of fellow forwards Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville after Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham United respectively activated release clauses in their contracts.

After those deals, manager Daniel Farke has spoken often and forcefully about learning the lessons.

Gnonto handed in a transfer request following Leeds' relegation from the Premier League and declined to play in a League Cup tie, but Farke refused to back down and sell him.

Everton, his principal suitors then, were heavily linked with another move for him this summer.

So it will have been a relief to Leeds fans not only to see him stay, but also commit his future until 2028.

Even before he signed for Leeds, Gnonto was the youngest player to have scored for Italy's senior team, against Germany in a Nations League qualifier aged 18.

But even so, his wages probably partly reflected his low transfer fee too, so his new deal can be seen as a reward for how he has responded since withdrawing last year's transfer request.

Gnonto has largely played as a wide attacker for Leeds, but their failure to directly replace Rutter, who played in the hole behind the centre-forward – they signed two wingers instead in the final 10 days of the window – could see him used more centrally this season.

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