Before Wilfried Gnonto had even signed for Leeds United, head coach Jesse Marsch had written him off as a long-term project not yet ready for Premier League football. The 19-year-old is too well-read to have missed comments like those and based on the speed of his impact you could imagine he had them pinned to his bedroom wall.
Gnonto was sitting behind the emergency glass Leeds had to break on deadline day on September 1. With Daniel James off, Cody Gakpo and Bamba Dieng staying put, Victor Orta had a minuscule time frame with which to offset the Wales international’s departure.
Gnonto’s move from FC Zurich was all but confirmed for January, so after a few phone calls it was not too difficult to simply bring the transfer forward. The Italy international was in West Yorkshire before he knew it.
