With Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville leaving Leeds United, Wilfried Gnonto has taken on that main-man aura at Elland Road as Daniel Farke eyes a third Championship promotion.
Despite failing to beat Portsmouth on the opening day and losing 3-0 at Elland Road to Middlesbrough, Leeds have made a solid start. Unbeaten in four league games, eight points, three clean sheets in a row.
Even though Leeds have lost Connor Roberts, Rutter, Summerville, Archie Gray, Liam Cooper, Glen Kamara and Jaidon Anthony compared to last season, Leeds look well-stocked in most positions this season.
Max Wober and Brenden Aaronson are back, new signings Ao Tanaka, Largie Ramazani, Isaac Schmidt and Manor Solomon have strengthened Leeds but Gnonto is the man that Leeds are looking to turn to.
Gnonto is impressing so far but has unwanted Championship stat
He has that atmosphere, that body language around him at the moment. Signing a new contract until June 2028, the Italy star looks like he might finally go and live up to the initial Premier League hype.
But one thing has become noticeable about Gnonto in the first four Championship games as he looks to adapt to a slight position tweak and come inside more, rather than go outside and reach the byline.
It is that he is playing on the last man and as things stand, he’s not got the hang of breaking the offside trap. WhoScored say that Gnonto is joint first with three others for the most Championship offsides so far.
How Gnonto has got on during the international break
Gnonto played the first half of Italy U21’s massive 7-0 win over San Marino and while he did not score or assist, he certainly made an impression. But he was taken off at half-time and spotted on his phone.
It has since been made public that the reason Gnonto was on his phone was to inform Leeds that his exit from the big win last week was due to avoiding suspension against Norway today, instead of an injury.
Gnonto is in action on Tuesday when Italy’s second string face Norway. He is one of a number of players in action today alongside Junior Firpo, Mateo Joseph, Ao Tanaka and then Aaronson in the early hours.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
