Wilfried Gnonto is set to make his first appearance in a Leeds United shirt for the Under 21s against Southampton on Friday. Gnonto made the switch to West Yorkshire from FC Zurich on deadline day and has been handed a couple of weeks of training to get settled in due to the postponement of matches following Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
The 18-year-old will get his first taste of Elland Road when he steps out against the Saints, and is set to be greeted by over 10,000 supporters who have bought tickets to watch the Young Whites in action. Here is a round-up of what fans can expect from Gnonto tomorrow evening, with one key attribute clearly standing out.
Style of play
Gnonto is a player who can play across the forward line. His main strengths include his pace and dribbling ability.
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Gnonto is also versatile, with the youngster having played everywhere across the front four, though predominantly as a number nine and 10. Whether he has the physical attributes to lead the line in the Premier League at this stage remains to be seen.
What's been said
Joe Gelhardt on his early impressions from training: “He’s very sharp, very fast. I think he plays as a winger, anywhere across the front four really. He’s a lovely lad and I am sure he will do well.”
Italy boss Roberto Mancini: “He’s so quick and can do everything. He’s a forward with a quality that we didn’t have before and he will improve a lot.
"For his age he knows how to play football like few others and he is very quick. If he develops without too much pressure, he can show us what quality he has."
Swiss football expert Craig King: "He's quick, a very determined individual, good dribbler of the ball and has a decent eye for goal. At age eighteen, he has so much potential at this stage of his career and will only get better.
"He is quite versatile too, he was deployed in quite a few positions at Zurich, including as a centre forward or out wide, but he does like to drift onto the left wing and dribble at the full-back. He also likes to cross the ball in often, both high and low. His low crosses across the face led to quite a few goals in Switzerland.”
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