Fabrizio Romano shares Willy Gnonto’s stance on leaving Leeds United to join Everton as talks begin

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For the second successive summer, Everton are interested in a deal for Leeds United winger Willy Gnonto.

Following Leeds‘ relegation from the Premier League in May 2023, Everton are reported to have made as many as four offers for Gnonto last summer.

However, on each occasion they were knocked back by the 49ers despite Gnonto’s determination to push through a move to Goodison Park.

Gnonto handed in a transfer request and also refused to play in three matches until eventually apologising to Daniel Farke and co, which saw him reintegrated back into the squad.

A difficult period then followed after his return to the side but he did then go onto enjoy a good second half of the season, ending it with nine goals in all competitions.

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Romano shares Gnonto stance on Leeds exit

After handing him a second chance at Leeds, Farke insisted last year that Gnonto would not be offered a third if he ever repeated those actions again.

Leeds have already made one major sale in Archie Gray this summer and Glen Kamara could follow as early as today, with a £8.5 million move to Rennes agreed.

As such, Leeds now believe they are in a strong position at the negotiating table when it comes to their other key players, a category of which Gnonto falls into.

Leeds will now only listen to offers for players if they make it clear they want to go, and Fabrizio Romano has shared an update on the 20-year-old’s stance on Twitter.

He says Gnonto would be ‘keen’ on a move to Merseyside and so with that in mind, it would not be a surprise if Leeds facilitate a deal this summer.

Negotiations are now taking place between the two clubs and with three years left on his deal, it will be interesting to see what sort of fee Leeds command.

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49ers are taking a major risk at Leeds this summer

Speaking after the play-off final, chairman Paraag Marathe had claimed Leeds would be in a better position to get promoted this time around.

He pointed towards continuity in the squad and the opportunity to get deals done quickly as the reasons for that, yet neither of those things are happening.

Selling Gray, Kamara and Gnonto, with the likes of Crysencio Summerville, Illan Meslier and Joel Piroe also linked elsewhere, is leaving them with a lot to do.

Farke is now effectively going to have half a new starting XI and so marquee signings simply have to start arriving soon, or another slow start to the season could be on the cards.