Football
Exclusive: Juventus Plot January Move for Leeds Star Wilfried Gnonto as Italian Eyes Serie A Return
Juventus to test Leeds United's resolve in bid to sign Wilfried Gnonto in January. Gnonto faces uncertain future in West Yorkshire, with interest from Italian giants and Inter. Leeds looking to reinforce squad to preserve Premier League status, potentially sacrificing key players like Gnonto. Gnonto eager to secure regular playing time for Italy's World Cup squad.
Leeds United v Newcastle United - Premier League by Malcolm Bryce | Getty Images
Juventus will test Leeds United’s resolve to keep Wilfried Gnonto during the January transfer window, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
Despite being a key player for Whites boss Daniel Farke last season, Gnonto faces an uncertain future in West Yorkshire as his employers look to comply with Profit and Sustainability regulations whilst also creating the room to bolster the German’s squad.
And that, combined with the fact the 21-year-old has previously expressed interest in returning to his native Italy, has alerted officials in Turin to the attacker’s potential availability.
Internazionale, where Gnonto began his career before joining FC Zurich, are also monitoring his situation closely. But Igor Tudor’s side lead the race for his services, as the Croatian looks to turbo-charge a team which has drawn five and lost one of its last six outings.
Although Farke is not actively looking to move Gnonto on, it has not gone unnoticed by Tudor’s technical collaborators Alessandro Colasante and Michele Troiano that the youngster’s most recent outing under Farke, during the defeat by Burnley, came from the bench.
REINFORCEMENTS
That loss, to another newly promoted club, has strengthened Leeds’ resolve to draft-in reinforcements in an effort to preserve their Premier League status.
But, in order to do so, they could be forced to sacrifice some of those who helped them get there in the first place. With Dan James also in situ, and preferred to Gnonto at Turf Moor, that makes the latter’s situation precarious; especially as the Wales international also proved Farke’s first choice along the flanks during The Whites’ march out of the Championship.
Capped by his country at both youth and senior level, Gnonto is desperate to cement his role in the Italian’s plans for the forthcoming World Cup as they edge closer towards qualification.
If he continues to be named as a substitute, that would make a switch to Serie A even more appealing.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.