£20k-Per-Week Leeds United Star Causing Internal “Tug-Of-War”

Leeds United star Wilfried Gnonto has been causing an internal tug-of-war over whether to keep him or sell him ahead of the January transfer window, according to the latest reports.

Gnonto handed in a transfer request during the summer and had a number of suitors in Italy and England, including Rome giants AS Roma and Lazio, as well as Premier League club Everton.

In fact, it was reported that the Toffees submitted three different bids to try and entice the recently-relegated Championship side to accept, with their final offer being worth a reported £25.7 million. However, the Peacocks stayed put and were not selling Gnonto.

https://twitter.com/Transfersdotcom/status/1615803389484404737

Nevertheless, the Italy international has not had too many minutes this season under head coach Daniel Farke. Having been a key player for the Yorkshire club in the previous campaign, Gnonto has played just 671 minutes for Leeds this season which has been spread across 17 appearances in all competitions. This is an average of 39.5 minutes per game.

Additionally, Gnonto has recorded merely one goal and one assist and has the same number of goal contributions as left-back Sam Byram.

It was reported by Football Insider earlier in the week that Leeds United had finally decided to sell the 20-year-old ahead of the winter window, having rejected so many offers for the winger a few months ago.

However, now journalist Dean Jones has admitted that the club may have changed their minds again and that the situation is causing a tug-of-war behind the scenes among the hierarchy.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said [quotes via Leeds United News]:

“Honestly, this is like a tug of war internally over whether Gnonto is staying or going. A few weeks ago, there was serious talk about him signing a new contract. So it seems quite a serious turnaround to now be willing to offload him when that really hasn’t ever been their stance before.

“Obviously there was the whole saga over the summer and he came back and he got back into things and now he’s out of the side again. The Leeds fans obviously forgave him initially and now they’re probably wondering what’s going on long term.”

Writer’s View

It has been reported over the past week that Leeds United are keeping tabs on Galatasaray winger Kerem Akturkoglu ahead of the winter window, which looks like the club are eyeing up a replacement for Gnonto.

Given his lack of game-time this season and the fact that Leeds can still acquire a handsome fee for the player, it would make sense if the Yorkshire outfit sold up in January.

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