YouTuber Conor McGilligan has questioned whether or not Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch even wanted summer signing Wilfried Gnonto.
Late on in the most recent transfer window, the Whites dipped into the market on deadline day to pull off a deal for the Italian forward, who arrived from FC Zurich having signed a five-year deal.
Since that move, however, Gnonto has yet to play for the Leeds first-team, featuring just three times on the bench in the Premier League and has had to settle for minutes in the academy setup.
While speaking about the player on the One Leeds Fan Channel, McGilligan suggested that this could be the case because Marsch may not have even wanted the forward.
He explained: “Gnonto is the incredible one, really.
“Dan James goes out on the last day and the board just really need to do something on a PR standpoint, so they bring someone in.
“Did Jesse Marsch really even want him? I mean, that’s the question.”
TIF Thoughts on Wilfried Gnonto and Leeds…
To be fair to McGilligan, he may have a point. After all, it’s well known that the club really wanted PSV winger Cody Gakpo but failed with that move and tried to bring in Bamba Dieng of Marseille before that deal also collapsed.
However, with the club loaning out Dan James to Fulham towards the end of the window, the club probably felt as though they had to bring in a replacement, but didn’t have much time to consider Marsch’s needs after their failed attempts at Gakpo and Dieng.
And so, taking Gnonto’s complete lack of game time into account – despite the fact that he has been deemed ready to play at international level for Italy – it’s fair to assume the Leeds boss isn’t entirely convinced.
Luckily for the youngster, though, Marsch may not be in the job for much longer and so his time to shine could yet come.
Will Wilfried Gnonto be a hit at Leeds?
Yes
No
