David Norris believes Leeds United will have assured Willy Gnonto that he is now the club’s key man after persuaded him to sign a new contract.
After the transfer market closed last week, the Italian international signed a new four-year contract at Elland Road, allowing Daniel Farke to maintain hold of a player who has started the season well.
Gnonto, 20, refused to play at the start of last season in order to force a move that never materialized, and throughout the summer he has had to watch Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville, and Archie Gray all leave for the Premier League in lucrative deals.
Speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, former Whites midfielder Norris claims the contract is an incentive to keep him on board and that he should be groomed into the main man. “I assume the new deal immediately following the deadline is to keep him on board, as he definitely did not receive his move.
“I believe they are now telling him he can be the main man, and I’m confident they can get the most out of him now. It appears to be different from last year; I believe his mentality has improved, and it keeps him focused on the game.
“Maybe the club wouldn’t have fully trusted him to keep his head in the right place if they had left his contract situation as it was, based on his behaviour in the past.”
Leeds United sign Wilfried Gnonto.
Whatever the motivation for the new contract, Leeds United has extended Gnonto’s contract to four years on improved terms, which is a significant boost.
Norris is very certainly correct; the 20-year-old would not have turned down a Premier League move if it had been offered, but now, at the start of a very promising career, he has the opportunity to be the talisman of perhaps the largest club outside the Premier League.
That is an opportunity that Gnonto should seize. He has had to reestablish his trust with the fandom as a result of his past as a poorly advised youngster.
And they are overjoyed to see him not only staying in a white shirt after 30 August, but also signing the new contract and wearing the Leeds emblem with a grin on his face.
Gnonto’s popularity will never wane because he is such an excellent player. However, if the club can weather the anticipated reappearance of inquiries in the forward throughout January, hopeful elevation should allow them to take a considerably more controlling posture.
