Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is stunned at how well Wilfried Gnonto has adapted to life at Elland Road. Leeds United stumped up just £5million to lure the 19-year-old from FC Zurich last summer.
It is easy to forget that Gnonto has only made eight Premier League appearances. An injury crisis forced Jesse Marsch to throw the youngster an opportunity earlier than expected at the back end of last year - and he took the chance with both hands.
Several electrifying performances have elevated Gnonto’s status to one of the first names on the team sheet. The meagre fee paid to Zurich now looks like a steal for a player with eight caps for Italy.
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Former Leeds striker Hasselbaink has been impressed by the youngster’s impact in a team bereft of confidence. He told SafeBettingSites: “I really like Gnonto. He’s fierce. He’s not scared to take his defender on in a 1v1 which is good to see from a 19-year-old.
“What I didn’t understand was why the other Leeds players didn’t give him more space (against Brentford). They crowded him instead of giving him more room to do his thing.”
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