The January switch window was a reasonably quiet one for Leeds United after they didn’t land any new gamers to help their Championship promotion push.
Daniel Farke focused countless gamers to attempt to add to his present squad at Elland Street, however he was unable to finish any strikes, having to accept the gamers at the moment at his disposal.
Cameron Archer was a player widely linked going into the ultimate few days of the window, however given Southampton’s lowly Premier League standing, it was all the time unlikely they’d half methods with the striker.
Nonetheless, the shortage of recent additions doesn’t seem to have affected the German, after his aspect claimed all three factors towards Coventry Metropolis simply a few days after the market slammed shut till the summer time.
The consequence has additional strengthened their possibilities of ending their top-division exile, however he should certainly want he had secured a deal to land a participant who’s beforehand starred underneath his steerage.
Leeds’ transfer to land Emi Buendia in January
One identify that refused to go away for Leeds in the course of the entirety of the month was that of Aston Villa man Emi Buendia after he grew to become accessible for a mortgage transfer away from the West Midlands.
The Argentine moved to Villa again in the summertime of 2021 for a then club-record £33m, with actual ambitions of reworking their assault and main them to a European spot.
Nonetheless, he struggled to make the influence he desired, with a knee damage halting his progress with the Villans, subsequently shedding his place and quickly dropping down the order upon his return.
The Whites have been only one aspect , understandably so after the ahead’s earlier link-up with Farke at Norwich Metropolis which noticed him net 15 goals and 16 assists in the course of the 2020/21 Championship marketing campaign, which secured the Canaries a return to the Premier League, ending high of the pile.
Nonetheless, he would transfer on loan to Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen till the top of the present season, with the German unable to tempt the 28-year-old to maneuver to Yorkshire and rekindle their partnership.
Undoubtedly, lacking out on a participant who’s thrived underneath the supervisor and had the expertise of securing promotion is a big disappointment, however the membership have already labored wonders out there, touchdown one participant whose worth has soared as of late.
The Leeds participant who’s now price greater than Buendia
Regardless of lacking out on Buendia, Leeds have impressed inside the remaining third all through 2024/25, posting a tally of 62 goals in just 31 league outings, essentially the most of any aspect within the division.
Their common of two objectives a recreation demonstrates how spectacular they’ve been in entrance of objective over the past couple of months, with a number of gamers enjoying a key function of their success.
Wilfried Gnonto is simply one of many attackers who’ve impressed this season, registering a complete of five goals and five assists in his 29 league outings underneath Farke.
The Italian checked out one stage as if he could be off to Saudi Arabia in January, however no deal ever materialised, with the Whites undoubtedly benefiting from his skills between now and the top of Might.
It’s laborious to consider Gnonto remains to be simply 21, particularly when he made his first look at simply 18, having baggage of time to proceed his improvement and enhance additional at Elland Street.
He cost just £3.8m from Swiss outfit FC Zurich, a charge that now seems to be a cut price, particularly contemplating his fast enhance in worth because of his shows in Yorkshire.
Gnonto is now valued at a staggering €37m (£30.8m) by CIES Soccer Observatory, a rise of 710% on the charge that they forked out for his signature just below three years in the past.
|
Wilfried Gnonto’s stats for Leeds within the Championship (2024/25) |
|
|---|---|
|
Statistics (per 90) |
Tally |
|
Video games performed |
29 |
|
Objectives & assists |
10 |
|
Pictures taken |
3.2 |
|
Move accuracy |
82% |
|
Probabilities created |
2 |
|
Profitable dribbles |
1.9 |
|
Touches in opposition field |
5.5 |
|
Fouls gained |
2.6 |
|
Stats by way of FotMob |
|
His subsequent worth is now greater than that of Buendia, who’s solely valued at €18m (£15m) because of his torrid current luck with accidents, along with his worth greater than half of the charge Villa paid to land the Argentine.
While Gnonto has discovered begins laborious to come back by in current weeks, his market worth is proof that he’s nonetheless a particularly promising younger expertise along with his price ticket solely going to maintain rising as he develops.
He nonetheless has an enormous function to play within the membership’s ambitions of securing promotion within the subsequent couple of months, having the ability set to make an influence, whether or not that be from a beginning function and even off the bench.
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